ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) because the company exemplifies the consolidation that has defined the advertising industry in the modern era, but also because IPG was one of the early pioneers of global expansion. Working on behalf of clients such as Standard Oil, Coca-Cola, General Motors, and Nestl, IPG agencies from very early on helped to define global consumption practices. The history of IPG begins appropriately with a merger between two companies. In October of 1930, the H. K. McCann Company merged with The Erickson Company to create McCann-Erickson, one of the largest advertising agencies of its day. Each agency was founded by a former advertising manager working on the client side, who then converted that opportunity to establish their own agency. According to IPG's annual report to investors, revenues for IPG are generated primarily through the creation, planning, and placement of advertising.
