Microsoft and WPP announce partnership to transform creative content production

WPP and Microsoft today announced a partnership to transform creative content production. Cloud Studio is a new cloud platform that allows creative teams across the world to produce campaigns for clients from any location around the world. Cloud Studio users can get access to content via advanced Azure AI-powered indexing of metadata from a central location accessible from anywhere, at any time.

WPP has plans to roll out Cloud Studio to 5,000 employees across its network over the next three years. In the future, WPP has plans to expand the platform more broadly, with a potential deployment of up to 25,000 users.

“Digital technology is rapidly transforming every aspect of the media and advertising industry, including how content is produced,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Together with WPP, we will apply the power of Azure’s scalable, intelligent infrastructure to support next-generation content production and ensure thousands of WPP employees remain agile, collaborative and creative from anywhere.”

 “Technology is what powers WPP’s creativity; it allows us to realise our ideas, uncover insights and embrace innovative ways of working. The pandemic has shown how WPP teams can successfully collaborate to create extraordinary work for our clients, all while being physically apart,” said Mark Read, CEO of WPP. “Partnering with Microsoft on Cloud Studio is the next step in our journey to arm creative teams with the latest in cutting-edge production tools, and draw upon the best talent, regardless of where they are.”

As part of this partnership, WPP will pilot the use of Surface devices, including Surface Pro 7, Surface Go 2, Surface Book 3 and Surface Duo.

Source: Microsoft