Mumbai: WPP’s GroupM is launching its global digital agency Essence Digital in India. The agency, which counts Google, HP and Tesco Mobile as clients and reported billings of $850 million in 2015, will set up office in Gurgaon.
Essence will share resources and work with Maxus, a GroupM agency, on several businesses. Kunal Guha, head of strategy for Essence’s Asia-Pacific region, will head the India team and will report to Kyoko Matsushita, the APAC CEO.
The agency has started recruiting local talent for roles including account management, strategy and planning, and advertising operations. “We see even more opportunity in India and are excited to align with GroupM as we navigate this crucial market,” Matsushita said.
GroupM already has four agencies — MediaCom, Mindshare, Maxus, Motivator and MEC — and is bullish on digital advertising. It estimates digital advertising expenditure will grow 47.5% to Rs 7,300 crore in 2016 from Rs 4,950 crore in 2015.
