GroupM’s Montgomery details internal complexity of GDPR-driven agency practice

Geoffrey Precourt

GroupM Connect, a unit of WPP Group, has learned invaluable lessons for the future in adapting to the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR).

A report from inside the belly of the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) beast reveals the sheer complexity – and cost – of accommodating this privacy-focused legislation.

“Some programmatic teams estimated that they spent 60% to 70% of their time in the three months before GDPR updating client business and preparing for the GDPR,” reports John Montgomery, North America chairman of WPP’s GroupM Connect, where he leads digital data strategy, innovation, and policy.

“I think that we all were a little bit stunned. You can't really prepare for this,” he explained to delegates at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s...

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