Can Dell Save Marketing?

Lots of chat in the industry about Dell's recent decision to create an integrated marketing and communications agency in partnership with WPP in a deal valued at $4.5 billion in agency billings over the first three years.

The deal is a massive statement by Dell on the importance of coordinated, integrated marketing activities. It is one of the most important statements about marketing I've have seen in years.

Martin Sorrell seems to have done the first proper example of what only serious network players can and have to do to survive. On winning the Dell business he is jointly building an agency from scratch to service it.

Hopefully he will built it with a central brain who has no vested interest in channel, a single P&L and process. A couple of years late but everyone seems to be getting wise fast - pick a network or group chairman who is not doing the chat about integrated bespoke solutions. The key reason for client consolidation is the massive fragementation of media, channels, agencies and the effort to manage them and make it all consistent. Creatively, Dell were happy....

Tags: WPP WPP DEll WPP giles rhys jones