WPP hopes “delivery unit” Outcomes will lead to a better outcome for Mindshare

WPP is forming what it calls an “integrated delivery unit” called Outcomes which will employ a scarcely believable 5,000 specialists. It’s an offshoot of media agency Mindshare and some bits of performance agency Neo Media World.

There’s also going to be yet another consultancy called Change. This one delving into “media transformation,” as you do.

Mindshare CEO Nick Emery says: “Every client that you’ve talked to for the last 18 months to two years has said, ‘Why can’t you integrate our brand activity better?’ I think everyone knows that they need to do it, but no one is doing it at any kind of scale.

“If you look at a lot of the large ad agencies, tech companies, media agencies, they all have bits of expertise in terms of performance or brand marketing. But I don’t see anyone putting the two together to put together in an integrated offering at a global scale.”

Clients may indeed by gagging for such services but it’s hard to detect the substance from the smoke and mirrors. And stop yourself wondering what all these people do. Had no idea there was an entity within WPP called Neo Media World.

WPP seems on the way back under CEO Mark Read but untangling these various knots, partly the result of relentless acquisitions over the years, will take a while yet. But will it create an offer that clients – and we inhabitants of the fourth estate – can actually understand?

PS I see that Publicis is bringing back Razorfish after “retiring” the brand a year ago, merging it into Publicis.Sapient. Publicis paid Microsoft $530m for Razorfish back in the day although the newbie is rather reduced, 1,000 or so people. You couldn’t make it up…