Cuba comes in from the cold – strikes deal with WPP
Yes that does sound a bit like the fabled Telegraph headline: “fog in the Channel Europe cut off,” or some such.
Anyway WPP, the world’s biggest marcoms company which operates in over 100 countries, is adding another in Cuba. Cuba, the biggest island in the Caribbean, is restoring diplomatic and trade relations with old adversary the United States.
So WPP is setting up shop, initially in partnership with local businesses. WPP says it is looking to “deliver all its communications services according to the specifics of the Cuban market and seeks to contribute to the economic development of the island with its global network of agencies.
“Under a contract with the state-owned Palco Group, WPP now has a permanent executive based in Havana who will be backed by an established local support team. This marks the start of the inclusion of the largest island in the Caribbean in the list of 112 countries in which WPP operates.”
Before the Castro revolution Cuba had a dynamic economy in many respects; best known for rum, cigars, tourism, gambling and Las Vegas-style organised crime. The latter will not reappear, one hopes but the rest should provide plenty of targets for Sir Martin Sorrell’s multi-faceted empire, to be headquartered in the Miramar district of Havana.