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WPP Group’s Wunderman announces acquisition of Bridge Worldwide,
an award-winning interactive relationship marketing agency, serving
clients such as Procter and Gamble.

WPP Group’s Wunderman, a leading global
relationship marketing agency
, today announced the acquisition of
Bridge Worldwide, a Cincinnati-based interactive relationship marketing
agency specializing in Fortune 100 consumer packaged goods and
healthcare. AdMedia Partners a New York investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions
advisory services to the advertising and marketing, media, and related
online and information services businesses, represented Bridge
Worldwide in the acquisition.

“Bridge pioneered the use of the internet to establish active ongoing
relationships between major consumer brands and their customers,” said
Seth Alpert, one of the investment bankers who led Bridge’s deal team.
“The acquisition reflects Wunderman’s understanding of the importance
of this new way to serve CPG clients.”

The official release is as follows:
New York, Dec. 28, 2005 – Wunderman, a leading global relationship
marketing agency and part of WPP Group, acquired Bridge Worldwide, a
Cincinnati-based relationship marketing agency specializing in Fortune
100 consumer packaged goods and healthcare.

Leveraging the Internet as the hub of many of its programs, Bridge
Worldwide’s results-driven creative has built consumer relationships
for some of the world’s best known brands, including the CPG leader
Procter & Gamble. Bridge Worldwide will have access to the diverse
resources of Wunderman’s global network; however, it will operate as an
independent unit of Wunderman. Terms of the financial agreement were
not disclosed.

“Bridge Worldwide’s depth of online and healthcare experience
complements Wunderman’s, and we both share the same philosophies about
the power of customer relationships and online dialog,” said Wunderman
chairman and CEO Daniel Morel.

Bridge Worldwide, headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, employs more than
120 people and was named as one of the fastest growing companies in the
city.


Jay Woffington, president and CEO of Bridge Worldwide
said “We are very
excited to join WPP and be affiliated with a world-class organization
such as Wunderman. This move allows us to tap into the expertise and
the global scale of the network while maintaining our entrepreneurial
culture and our flexible creative and strategic approach for our
clients.”


About Bridge Worldwide

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Bridge Worldwide
is an award-winning relationship marketing firm, serving clients such
as Procter & Gamble. Bridge is a top-40 interactive agency and a
top 100 marketing services company in the US. With the internet as the
hub, Bridge creates marketing programs that engage customers in the
brand, sustain the dialogue over time, and drive loyalty and advocacy –
all with a focus on measurable return on investment.


About Wunderman

Wunderman is one of the largest, most experienced customer-focused
marketing communications companies in the world, with 76 offices in 36
countries. Our focus is simple: acquire, keep and offer value to
consumers in the most creative ways possible. Last year, Wunderman was
recognized for creative excellence with 180 awards and citations. Since
2002, Wunderman has won 19 Lions at the prestigious Cannes Lions
Advertising Festival, including the coveted Direct Grand Prix two years
in a row. Wunderman is part of Young & Rubicam Brands and a member
of the WPP Group.


About AdMedia Partners


AdMedia Partners
is a leading boutique investment bank that provides middle market
mergers and acquisitions advisory services to advertising and marketing
services, media and publishing, and related internet businesses.
Founded in 1990 and located in New York City, the firm has completed
over 100 transactions since 1999.


Selected transactions completed by AdMedia Partners in the last six months inc:

  • Representing Creative Domain in its merger with Trailer Park to form one of the largest providers of diverse entertainment marketing services in Hollywood. The transaction was backed by a financial commitment from Lake Capital.
  • Representing Dittus Communications, a Washington, DC based public affairs firm with legislative and regulatory expertise, in its acquisition by Financial Dynamics.
  • Representing Federalist Group, a Washington, DC based government relations firm, in its acquisition by Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, a unit of WPP Group.
  • Representing Grupo Editorial Expansión, Mexico’s second largest magazine publisher, in its acquisition by Time Inc., a subsidiary of Time Warner.
  • Representing Gruner+Jahr USA in its sale of Inc. magazine and Fast Company magazines to Mansueto Ventures LLC.
  • Representing Dynamic Logic, the leading independent marketing research company, in its acquisition by Millward Brown, a unit of WPP Group.
  • Representing Taylor Rafferty, an independent global investor relations and financial communications advisor, in its sale to Xinhua Finance, China’s premier financial services and media company.
  • Representing Interweave Press in its acquisition by Aspire Media, a newly formed magazine entity backed by private equity firms Frontenac Company and Catalyst Investors LP.

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One Response to “CRM Customer Relationship Management Update”

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