Colmar Brunton Brand to Go in Australia

Following its acquisition of WPP AUNZ's Data Investment Management (DIM) division, Kantar has announced a number of steps which it says will help drive growth for its clients in Australia, including the retirement of the Colmar Brunton brand in the country.

The acquisition took place at the end of last year, as part of WPP's global sale of 60% of Kantar shares to private equity firm Bain Capital. The WPP AUNZ sale in Australia and New Zealand included agencies Kantar Insights, Kantar Consulting, Lightspeed, The Online Research Unit (The Oru) and Colmar Brunton.

Colmar Brunton Australia, which specialises in sensory, customer and governmental research, will be fully integrated into Kantar, and in the coming months a transition unit comprising Jon Foged, Kathy O'Donoghue, Ash Moore, Maree Taylor and Jenny Witham will integrate the teams. The Colmar Brunton brand in Australia will be retired during the year (Colmar Brunton in New Zealand is a separate legal entity and is unaffected by these changes), and Taylor and Witham will take on senior roles within Kantar's Insights division.

The other businesses which formed part of WPP AUNZ's DIM division will also be merged into Kantar. Joan Young, Colmar Brunton's former CEO, has now become Global Head of Syndicated Products for Kantar's Public division; reporting to its Global CEO Michelle Harrison; and Rob McLachlan, previously of WPP AUNZ, will take on a one-year assignment as Chairman to support the integration process. All other management teams remain unchanged in the region with reporting lines switching from WPP AUNZ into global divisional and functional leads at Kantar.

Eric Salama (pictured), CEO of Kantar, comments: 'The integration of Colmar Brunton and the addition of The Oru and consulting expertise and teams and that of other teams into Kantar will make us a much stronger partner for our Australian clients. 2019 was a fabulous year in the region, and today's announcement ensures a lot more of that to come. There are a number of areas where we will be able to export ideas, approaches and ways of working to other parts of the world for the benefits of clients'.

Web site: www.kantar.com .