MUMBAI: Advertising giant Martin Sorrell, who was made to leave WPP last year and later announced his next new venture S4 Capital, has made a new revelation. The company’s India operation is soon to be launched having found the country head. Sorrell made the announcement on the sidelines of the IAA World Congress 2019 that’s taking place in Kochi this year.
The business will commence later this week starting off in the digital content side with MediaMonks, a company it acquired last year for $350 million. First offices here will open in Mumbai and Bengaluru. The country, according to Sorrell, has a vast untapped potential because of its inclination to traditional media and still growing digital side. “With the growth of fake news and political debates on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, there’s an issue of privacy which has worried the customers. Transparency in data is important in India,” said Sorrell.
Though lagging in digital media, Sorrell said, “India will be the most populous business because of the talent, quality of people and high tech capabilities.” Media industries today are in a much better place than 10 years ago. “Our biggest clients are tech. Our recruits are really excited about technology. We are more attractive to the population than ever before,” he added.
40 per cent of client budget today is in the digital medium with Facebook, Google and Amazon being dominant players. In India, WPP has close to 50 per cent of market share.
S4 Capital’s focus is on data, digital content and programmatic media buying.
