International news: WPP creates new agency to handle Dell account
By Adnews Staff
WPP has opened a new business unit in New York called Project Da Vinci. The new agency will handle the consolidated global Dell account. The computer company's worldwide marketing activities were previously handled by approximately 800 companies. Torrence Boone has been appointed chief executive officer of the firm. He was previously president of Digitas Boston. Prior to that, he was vice-president and general manager of Avenue A. He has also worked at Bain & Company. Da Vinci already has approximately 500 employees in New York, Austin, Miami, San Francisco, London, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Beijing. "The goal from the start was to design and build a new kind of marketing organization that not only provides unique solutions for Dell, but meets other clients' marketing needs and does so using developments in technology to guide and measure its marketing decisions," said Martin Sorrell, chief executive officer of WPP.