WPP creates in-house Unilever partnership

WPP and Unilever today launched a new collaboration between the agency network and the Unilever Foundry, drawing on the expertise of both to create innovative solutions for Unilever’s suite of brands.

Team Unilever will sit at Unilever Foundry’s LEVEL3 co-working space in Singapore. WPP will draft in talent from across its agencies, who will work with the Foundry and its community of more than 50 startups. Sudipto Roy at Mindshare will lead Team Unilever as managing director for the Singapore hub and Southeast Asia. Other WPP agencies contributing talent include Burson Cohn & Wolfe, Design Bridge, Geometry, Hogarth, J Walter Thompson/Mirum, Kantar, Ogilvy, Smollan, Verticurl, VML and Wunderman.

“We have taken a fresh approach to the ‘Team WPP’ design,” Roy said. “Instead of designing around the brand or the category, we have designed around capabilities and intelligence in order to solve business problems.”

Roy added that the team will have access to “cutting-edge technology and new products” through Unilever Foundry’s start-up community.

Pier Luigi Sigismondi, president of Unilever SEA and Australasia, said the collaboration lays the foundation for “the marketing services ecosystem of the future”.

“When you combine the multifunctional capabilities of WPP with agile startups, you get a strong partnership which can continue to build Unilever’s core business, and at the same time address the huge shift taking place in consumers’ lives due to technological change,” he added.

Sudipto Roy