WPP’s (LON:WPP) digital odyssey continues; the advertising services group is buying Schematic – a Los Angeles-based interactive design agency responsible for the recent ITV.com redesign – for an undisclosed amount, reports The Guardian (via release).
Led by Trevor Kaufman, Schematic has an impressive list of big-name clients across a range of digital media and also has offices in Boston, New York, Atlanta and San Jose, employing 255. It was responsible for the the new-look ITV.com, which the broadcaster unveiled this summer with on-demand TV catch-up video and live streaming of ITV 1, 2, 3 and 4, and for CNN’s Pipeline player. Schematic pulled in annual revenue of $29.6 million by this March.
WPP has of late acquired MySpace China investor China Broadband Capital Partners, Pennsylvania-based digital agency Refinery and, in the biggest deal, bought ad network 24/7 RealMedia for $649 million. It’s also an investor in VideoEgg. Sir Martin Sorrell’s company posted 10 percent better digital revenues for the first half in August; the CEO has this year stated his desire to see that 25 percent of WPP revenue comes from digital within five years.
Update: Schematic will sit within WPP Digital and will work primarily with its media investment management arm GroupM, according to the release.