Wonder has added the backing of the Publicis Groupe to their nimble start-up model. Wonder was founded a year ago by industry heavyweights Gareth McPherson (ex-MD and Chief Creative Officer at Publicis Machine) and Helen Ludwig (former MD at Saatchi & Saatchi).
Now Wonder has the heft and weight of Publicis behind them. With the affiliate agreement in place, Wonder can remain lean and flexible. Their senior talent boasts deep expertise and is backed by a council of entrepreneurial advisers from across multiple industries. They can now also access the Publicis Groupe’s global capabilities on a project-by-project basis, purpose-building teams, strategies and implementations to meet clients’ growth expectations and to very quickly execute large projects at immense scale.
‘We believe cross functional is a high functional approach,’ said McPherson. ‘We wanted to plug in with a global leader in communications media and digital technology.’
The Publicis Groupe is a unique platform with vast capabilities in communication, media and digital technologies, data leverage, dev and digital transformation. Alongside acquisitions of Transcend, Epsilon and Sapient, Publicis has also built out into affiliate relationships with incubator start-ups and niche agencies operating in the right spaces.
This forward-thinking approach recently saw Publicis Groupe named Ad Age’s Holding Company of the Year in the publication’s annual A-List & Creativity Awards in March 2022. The awards recognise ‘forward-thinking leaders, top agencies and creative innovators’ who pursue ‘game-changing creativity, bold leadership and have helped point the industry in new directions.’
‘Publicis Groupe believes strongly that to lead in a platform world we need to be at the forefront of innovation and to work with like-minded partners to scale our tools and platforms and help bring change to clients together,’ said Jonty Fisher, Senior Vice President (SVP) of Publicis Groupe Cape Town. ‘We have worked with Wonder since their launch and are pleased to partner with them in this way.’
Ludwig explained that Wonder has a legacy partnership with Publicis, ‘We’ve tried this model with them, partnering on a number of projects and across multiple industries and clients. It’s delivered results and it’s working. The affiliate agreement is recognition of Wonder as an innovative agency.’
Since Wonder’s launch on 11 March last year, the team has expanded with a few key hires, and so has the client list, which includes Unitrans Africa, Sealand, Old Mutual Wealth, Currency Hub, Score Energy Drinks, Ascendis Health Solal, TFG’s Jet, Fynbos, I love Coffee, Fitch & Leedes, and the Craft Design Institute.
Wonder’s services run across CX strategy and brand development through to content marketing, UX design, data and technology solutions, PR and influencer campaigns, experiential and activation opportunities and through-the-line communication.
Brand values centre on curiosity, creativity, collaboration and purpose and there’s a strong impetus to support and partner on initiatives like Love in a Bowl’s feeding programme and I Love Coffee’s vocational training project for the hearing-impaired.
The last two years have reframed clients’ thoughts on where they’re going to invest their energy and on how to get the job done in ways that have evolved from where they’ve come from.
‘The better way of doing it is the thing because that progresses innovation. We’re excited to provide that creativity and agility. We know our platform works, we know our model is unique and we know it’s future-fit for the world we’re going into,’ concluded McPherson.
WONDER
https://wearewonder.co.za
