The agency is based in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, and marks what WPP says is the first time a multinational agency has acquired a local agency in a provincial, second-tier city.
Private-owned Fujian Effort was founded in 1995 and offers a broad range of services including advertising, brand management, design work, promotions and media. The agency will join WPP's Ogilvy & Mather network and will be renamed Effort Ogilvy.
TB Song, chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Greater China, said: "Fujian Effort was an obvious agency for our investment: not only is it the largest in Fujian, it is also respected for the strength of its client relationships, high-quality clients including the top local companies in the region and a team that is eager to improve operations."
The Fujian province, which is a major destination for foreign direct investment, has the third-highest urban income levels in China and a highly developed infrastructure.
The region is key to the Eastern maritimes and has long been involved in cross-straits trade with Taiwan and is a strategic link between China's two most developed regional markets -- the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.
WPP said that the investment in Fujian Effort represented a major step forward in Ogilvy's long-term provincial acquisition strategy aimed at helping the group's expansion into second-tier cities and surrounding provincial areas.
Miles Young, regional chairman for Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific, said: "China continues to be our fastest growing market in Asia Pacific and we expect it to overtake Japan as the world's second-largest advertising market before the end of this decade."
Ogilvy China is now the largest marketing communications group in the country with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and now Fuzhou.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .