WPP has made a strategic investment in 88 rising, a US-based digital content producer that targets Asian millennials across the globe.
Founded in 2015 by Sean Miyashiro, 88rising is a digital media company with 15 employees in New York and Los Angeles. It also has plans to launch an office in Shanghai.
To date, it has produced more than 500 hours of original content that has generated over 80 million total video views on Facebook and YouTube. More than half of 88rising’s 16- to 34-year-old viewers are located in Asia-Pacific.
The company has branded and sponsored content deals with companies such as Adidas, Maybelline and Revolve.
WPP refused to comment on either the size or the nature of the deal. The group's spokesman also refused to clarify if WPP's agencies would be working more closely with 88rising following the deal.
This investment continues WPP's strategy of investing in three areas: technology, data and content. Other specialised digital content companies WPP has invested in include Russell Simmons' All Def Digital, Mitú, the digital media company Latino youth in the US and worldwide, and Refinery29, a fashion and lifestyle media company.
Most recently, WPP's Group M launched Motion Content Group, a new global content investment and rights management company in the UK and the US.
