GroupM and Fullscreen in Influencer Partnership

WPP's media investment arm GroupM has partnered with youth media company Fullscreen to launch a new influencer marketing partnership called Playa.

Fullscreen, which is jointly owned by telecoms giant AT&T and investment firm TCG, is a global network of content creators and brands on YouTube, connecting celebrities to fans and influencers. This network generates more than seven billion monthly video views and has a subscriber base of about 100 million.

Playa will be staffed by a dedicated team of influencer marketing specialists based in New York. In addition to accessing Fullscreen's creator network, Playa clients will be able to tap in to the firm's proprietary creator / client platform, which matches a brand campaign audience target with creators who can reach that audience with scale. In addition, the team will work directly with GroupM and WPP agencies, to help them create ad campaigns featuring digital creators. CEO George Strompolos says that influencer marketing offers a 'great way' to integrate a brand into cultural conversations with the stars the audience connects to 'passionately'.

Rob Norman, Chief Digital Officer, GroupM, adds: 'Celebrity ebbs and flows so much faster now and brands need to capture that flow and to exploit micro audience segments. Fullscreen is a leader in this space and has distinguished itself by seamlessly marrying the creative vision of brands to influencers. As ever, GroupM's focus is at the nexus of media, technology, data and creativity'.

Web sites: www.wpp.com , www.groupm.com and www.fullscreen.com .