Do you know Schematic’s Trevor Kaufman? AT&T does. They awarded their $2 billion dollar account to WPP based upon his pitch, according to The Wall Street Journal.
AT&T spokesman Michael Coe says the telecom company was impressed by the Internet capabilities of the WPP team. “That’s an important channel for us.”
WPP aims to sell Schematic’s expertise in video and entertainment to its existing clients, which include many of the world’s largest advertisers, such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Ford Motor.
“The next big thing on the Internet is going to be video and that’s going to become more attractive to our traditional clients,” says Mark Read, chief executive of WPP Digital and WPP’s director of strategy.
Within WPP there was squabbling as executives from several of the company’s big ad agencies argued that Schematic should be folded into their digital operations, according to people familiar with the negotiations. But WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell decided to make Schematic part of WPP Digital, an umbrella group for its technology firms, Mr. Kaufman says.
