Another day brings another WPP deal but this one’s more interesting than most: the marcoms giant headed by Sir Martin Sorrell has taken a 30 per cent stake in Richard Attias & Associates, a strategy consultancy run by the man who Sorrell, rightly, describes as a “global influencer.”
RAA, which employs 50 people in New York, Paris, London, Rabat and Dubai, turns over a juicy $35m. But the point of a deal like this is as much to give WPP another seat at the top table of business and politics.
Sorrell says: “By building this partnership with global influencer Richard Attias , WPP confirms its strategy to support countries to brand their nations and corporations to have access to faster growing markets. Our ambition is to create together with Richard a world champion in the field of strategic communication, international conferences and global action oriented events.”
‘Branding nations’ is a new one surely? Will we see SMS And Attias forming a ‘Team UK’ to give David Cameron and George Osborne a leg up? It’s interesting that RAA has an office in the Moroccan capital of Rabat. There are a few nations in Africa that could maybe do with a bit of branding.