Kantar consolidates 4 brands into single consultancy

WPP’s Kantar has merged four of its brands, Kantar Added Value, Kantar Futures, Kantar Vermeer and Kantar Retail, to form Kantar Consulting. The new entity will function as a specialist sales and marketing consultancy which aims to boost growth for brand owners and retailers.Prior to the move, Kantar Added Value specialised in cultural understanding, brand purpose and positioning, while Kantar Futures focused on consumer foresight and trends. Meanwhile, Kantar Retail functioned as Kantar’s retail, sales ecommerce and shopper specialist and Kantar Vermeer as brand, organisational excellence in marketing ROI.At launch, Kantar Consulting’s client base includes major multinationals including Unilever, Pepsi, Tata, Bayer, Amazon, Walmart and major regional clients such as JBS, Pladis, Alibaba and RBS.It will look to combine retail, sales, ecommerce and marketing expertise, along with having a deep understanding of how consumers think, live, behave and buy, along with proprietary data. It will also aim to develop strategies, execute them and embed capabilities within client organisations.“We are creating Kantar Consulting to fulfil our ambition of bringing a deeper, more rounded consulting offer to our clients. Alone and in combination with other capabilities, Kantar Consulting will be a core part of Kantar and WPP’s success in the future,” Eric Salama, CEO, Kantar added.“We live in a new era of consumption. Growth can no longer be assumed, yet there are more, not fewer, opportunities to build breakout brands and new lines of business. Future growth exists, but beyond the comfort zone of most organisations; it is more granular, less siloed and more opportunistic,” Phil Smiley (pictured), CEO, Kantar Consulting, said.Marketing has reached out to WPP for comment.