Buzzfeed and WPP’s GroupM sign global ad deal

Buzzfeed has signed a global advertising deal with WPP’s media planning and buying arm GroupM which includes an adspend commitment thought to be worth tens of millions of dollars.

The year-long deal with see WPP agencies get preferential media pricing for ad campaigns, put staff in Buzzfeed Motion Pictures to create branded video content for WPP clients, and a creative residency to allow WPP creative teams to access Buzzfeed’s expertise in producing social content for all platforms.

WPP will also get exclusive access to Buzzfeed’s proprietary data and analytics platform Pound, which tracks how content gets shared across the social web, including messaging.

GroupM chief digital officer Rob Norman said in a statement: “The future of advertising lies at the intersection of creativity, data, media and technology; that’s where BuzzFeed has built its business and proved its value to brands.