WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell said he was going to invest in continental Europe post Brexit and, as usual, he’s as good as his word, buying German creative agency group thjnk AG.
Thjnk was founded in 2012 in Hamburg and now has offices in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Munich, Zurich and New York employing 400 people. it was named Agency of the Year 2017 by German trade publication Werben & Verkaufen.
It will remain an independent brand within WPP, led by its founding partners Karen Heumann, Armin Jochum and Michael Trautmann along with Ulrich Pallas.
Germany is WPP’s fourth biggest market after the US, UK and Greater China with 8,000 people generating revenues of $1.3bn.
This buy is interesting on two fronts: one that WPP is investing a substantial sum (presumably) in a creative agency and, two, the implication for jobs in the UK. JP Morgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon told a conference the other days that 75 per cent of City of London jobs could migrate to Europe if EU legislators change the financial services rulebook. UK agency and marketing services jobs could easily go the same way, with Germany the most likely destination.
