WPP's GroupM has combined forces with Alibaba to tap the business potential of the FMCG and luxury sectors by creating personlised communication solutions that will help strengthen the emotional connection between brands and consumers in China.

As part of the strategic partnership, GroupM’s [m]Platform solution will integrate with Alibaba’s Uni Marketing products in areas which include data, resources and strategy.

The audience centric media planning tool of [m]Platform, [m]Insights will collaborate with Uni Desk to identify potential customers at an early stage of a marketing campaign. Meanwhile, [m]Platform's [m]Report will help Uni Desk in optimisation of media impact by highlighting actionable intelligence in real time and integrating brands' performance.

“Alibaba is evolving from an e-commerce platform to an ecosystem which breaks through the online-to-offline boundaries, connecting enterprises, brands, entrepreneurs and other industry players," said Chris Tung, chief marketing officer, Alibaba Group.

"Together, we are setting a business infrastructure for the future, an initiative that will enable brand marketing evolution for years to come. I am confident that this partnership will bring more value of Alibaba data to brand owners.'

Patrick Xu, CEO of GroupM China and WPP China said, “Nowadays, marketers really need to keep their fingers on the pulse of their audience in order to reach them in the most efficient, agile and personalized manner. Building on its profound experience and expertise in media planning, GroupM pledges to keep investing in data and technology for meeting the marketers’ needs."

The Drum spoke with mPlatform's global chief operating officer who said that the idea of the platform group and the [m]Platform group is to support the agencies to directly support the clients.