MEC (media agency)

MEC

Industry	Advertising & Marketing
Founded	2002
Headquarters	London, England, UK New York, NY, United States
Key people	Tim Castree, CEO Global Alastair Aird, COO Global, Chairman EMEA Caroline Foster Kenny, Chief Client Officer Global Stephan Bruneau, Head of Analytics & Insight Global Keith Tiley, Chief Investment Officer Global
Number of employees	c. 5,000
Parent	WPP plc
Website	www.mecglobal.com

MEC is the fifth largest media agency network in the world, with domestic and international clients such as Vodafone, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Marriott, Chanel, GE, Xerox, Colgate-Palmolive, Chevron, Beiersdorf, Tiffany and Michelin. MEC has global billings of over $26.8 billion (2014). The global network is led from regional headquarters in London, New York, Singapore, Dubai and Miami employing more than 5,000 people worldwide. MEC is a founding partner in GroupM, the WPP Group media investment management operation. Its core business is media buying and media planning but as the media landscape has become more complex it has diversified its capabilities which now encompass all forms of digital media (social, mobile, search, programmatic), analytics, insight, content and sponsorship.

MEC was launched in January 2002 following WPP’s acquisition of CIA’s parent company, Tempus Group. The global media agency network was formed through the merger of The Media Edge and CIA, bringing together CIA’s 57 offices across 28 countries and The Media Edge’s 103 offices 78 countries to form one global group.

Since 2002, MEC has grown to include 150 offices in 80 countries and has expanded its client offering with new business units such as MEC Interaction, MEC Access and Analytics & Insight.

In 2010, the agency officially changed its name from Mediaedge:cia to MEC, something it has informally been referred to for years.

In October 2015, MEC was named an "Agency of the Year" finalist among large agencies in the 2015 iMedia Agency Awards.

In April 2016, MEC launched a new global content division "MEC Wavemaker", consolidating five disciplines within the WPP media network: content strategy, social, partnerships and experiences, SEO and creative service to deliver new content for clients. MEC Wavemaker was initially launched in 10 markets globally, including the UK; the US; the Netherlands; Mexico; Australia; India; Poland; the Middle East; Singapore; and Germany.

In November 2016, MEC announced a new global CEO, naming Tim Castree former managing director of video ad platform Videology in North America to replace Charles Courtier.