You wouldn’t usually see the Guardian newspaper (left) and WPP as natural bedfellows (WPP is close to Guardian-hating News Corp, handling all its UK advertising) but now, it seems, they are.
WPP’s Kantar research operation has bought a majority stake in the Guardian’s ‘data visualisation, site design and interactive development’ operation Guardian Digital Agency. GDA will be rebranded as Graphic.
The old GDA was primarily intended to work for other clients rather than the Guardian itself, so presumably the Guardian reckons it will get more business through access to Kantar’s thousands of clients. Kantar contains 12 main data-based businesses.
As for WPP it has been quietly building its production capabilities in recent years, competing with the likes of TAG with Hogarth (which is supposed to handle all the production work for WPP agencies but actually doesn’t), new film production company Gramercy Park Studios and post-production house The Farm.
