Indiantelevision.com Team

(28 January 2008 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: WPP has acquired a majority stake in Encompass, India's leading independent brand activation, events and content creation agency. Following this, Encompass will be aligned with JWT, with founders, Roshan Abbas, MD and Sukrit Singh, CEO, remaining in their current positions.

Welcoming the new team, JWT president based in Singapore Michael Maedel said, "The founders, Roshan Abbas and Sukrit Singh have been integral to the phenomenal success of Encompass and will remain in their current positions of leadership to ensure continued success and client satisfaction. JWT has been working with Encompass on several client engagements and this transaction is a natural extension of our established relationship."

Abbas said, "For over ten years, we have been focused on bringing brands to life as experiences. We will continue to focus on engaging customers in new and exciting ways but now we will have a world class network to support our growth initiatives."

"Working under the JWT umbrella is a tremendous opportunity to expand our business. We look forward to continuing to support our current client's needs while also building new business relationships with JWT," added Singh.

JWT India CEO Colvyn Harris said, "At JWT, our mission is to ensure that our clients continue to be market leaders. Encompass, in partnership with us, will ensure our solutions continue to lead the market and bring brand experiences to life.

The age of advertising being focused on television, print and radio is declining. We are developing fully integrated campaigns for our clients, including digital and event components. Encompass is an incredibly creative company, both dynamic and results oriented. I am excited to work with the executive team from Encompass."

Founded in 1996, Encompass now employs over 240 people across India, with offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Singapore. Its clientele includes HSBC, Nokia, GSK, Pepsi, Accenture, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and Ford, among many others.

JWT operates through offices in six cities and partners India's top blue chip clients including Airtel, Bharti Retail, PepsiCo, FritoLay, ITC, Hindustan Lever, Hero Honda, GSK Consumer Healthcare and GE, among others.