BJK&E in London To Become MAXUS U.K.

BJK&E will be re-branded as MAXUS and will serve as the U.K. base for the WPP global media network, it was announced today.

The announcement was made by Kelly Clark, recently named worldwide CEO of MAXUS, which is part of GroupM’s family of media agencies that includes MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia and Mindshare.

Clark noted that the U.K. is the first new market to join the growing MAXUS network since his appointment in October. New offices in other European markets will join the MAXUS network in 2009.

“To achieve our growth plans, it’s absolutely essential for us to establish a strong beachhead in the U.K.” said Clark. “The U.K. is a crucially-important market and BJK&E can help us deliver our vision there.”

Clark, who previously served as CEO of GroupM EMEA, relocated to New York in November to lead development of the global MAXUS network. He said BJK&E would be re-branded as MAXUS and officially become part of the network effective January 1, 2009. He added that BJK&E’s current management structure would remain in place and the agency would continue to be led by joint managing directors James Jennings and Tim Irwin.

London-based BJK&E was launched in 1992 as a joint venture media agency between Tempus and Bozell. It was acquired by WPP in 2001 and is the only top 20 U.K. agency with fully integrated on and offline media planning and buying services.

“The way we’ve positioned BJK&E and the work we’ve done fits well with GroupM’s plans for MAXUS,” said Jennings. “We’re more than confident that a large number of clients want the kind of agency that combines a small agency culture with a large group’s trading muscle and research resources.”

Irwin added: “We have a terrific opportunity—a remit to develop a new kind of 21st century agency, a fantastic existing client base and the full support and resources of GroupM.”

BJK&E currently has more than 30 clients, including Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler Group, Seiko, Palm, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Triumph/Sloggi and Betfair. New business wins in the last 18 months alone include Ubisoft, Eurosport, Church and Dwight, British Motor Show and Illinois Bureau of Tourism.

About MAXUS
MAXUS is a global communications consultancy that helps marketers build interactive relationships between consumers and their brands. Our services include communications strategy, digital marketing, direct response media, database management and media planning and buying. We use the power of addressable media to turn prospects into loyal customers for our clients. We have more than 1,000 people in 30 offices worldwide and we’re part of GroupM, the world’s largest media investment management group that serves as the parent company for all of WPP’s media agencies. GroupM’s scale creates access to the best opportunities for our clients’ brands  and the best prices, across all media channels.

About GroupM
GroupM is the leading global media investment management operation. It serves as the parent company to WPP media agencies including MAXUS, MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia and Mindshare. Our primary purpose is to maximise the performance of WPP’s media communications agencies on behalf of our clients, our shareholders and our people by operating as a parent and collaborator in performance-enhancing activities such as trading, content creation, sports, digital, finance, proprietary tool development and other business-critical capabilities. The agencies that comprise GroupM are all global operations in their own right with leading market positions. The focus of GroupM is the intelligent application of physical and intellectual scale to benefit trading, innovation  and new communication services, to bring competitive advantage to our clients and our companies.

Primary Contact:
John Wolfe
GroupM
(212) 297-7160
(914) 659-8663
[email protected]