What Wham does

WHAM is the in-house International Creative Group of CK Hutchison Holdings, one of the world's largest multinational conglomerates. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in London with a Hong Kong office co-located with CKHH's headquarters, the agency provides multidisciplinary creative, strategic, retail, product, and digital services exclusively to CKHH's portfolio of businesses spanning telecommunications, health and beauty retail, ports and logistics, infrastructure, energy, and utilities. Its work covers strategic brand planning, visual identity design, brand guardianship, campaign creation, retail and packaging design, digital product branding, and employer brand development for flagship accounts including The Three Group, Watsons (the world's largest health and beauty retailer), Marionnaud, Hutchison Ports (48 ports, 30,000 employees), Superdrug, The Perfume Shop, Northumbrian Water, Vietnamobile, WINDTRE, and HUTCHMED.

WHAM operates as a professional services creative division rather than a product or technology company. Revenue is generated through intra-group service arrangements with CKHH's business units; pricing is not publicly disclosed. The agency's technical capability centres on integrated creative production across motion, image, digital, spatial, and packaging, with a recent adoption of generative AI for image work in the Marionnaud 'Beauty is a Legacy' campaign (2025). Distribution is direct-to-CKHH-BU via enterprise-style engagement, supported by brand showcases on whambrands.com, LinkedIn, and Instagram. There are no external investors, no funding events, and no public listing: WHAM is wholly owned by CKHH and functions as a captive internal agency rather than a competing commercial creative shop.

Name

Wham

Legal name

WHAM

Website

https://whambrands.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WHAM is the in-house International Creative Group of CK Hutchison Holdings, providing multidisciplinary brand strategy, identity, campaign, retail, product, and digital design exclusively to CKHH's portfolio companies across health and beauty, telecommunications, ports, and utilities globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Creative and Branding Services: WHAM operates as the internal creative division of CK Hutchison Holdings, providing multidisciplinary creative, strategic, retail, product and digital services across the CKHH group's brands. As an internal agency, revenue is generated through service agreements with the parent company rather than external client fees.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

WHAM is the International Creative Group for CK Hutchison Holdings, providing multidisciplinary creative, strategic, retail, product and digital services to CKHH's portfolio of local and international brands. Its work spans brand strategy, visual identity development, retail design, own-brand product branding, digital design, marketing campaign creation, and brand guidelines across Health & Beauty, Telecommunications, Ports and Utilities categories.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Utility Project: Accessories brand conceived through collaboration between Three, CKH IOD and WHAM, offering style, function, sustainability and affordability union.
• App Island
• Wuntu
• HelloGlobe

Products and services

• Brand Strategy & Visual Identity Services End-to-end brand strategy and visual identity development, including brand positioning, visual identity refresh, brand guidelines and logo/wordmark systems for CKHH brands such as The Three Group, Watsons, Marionnaud, Hutchison Ports and Northumbrian Water.
• Marketing Campaign Creation Integrated marketing campaign development spanning above-the-line, digital, social media and in-store activations for CKHH brands, including work such as Superdrug 'B' makeup range, Marionnaud '1984' campaign, 'The New Beautiful' and 'Dare To Try' for Watsons, and Miller 'Ignite the Night' EDM collaboration.
• Own-Brand Product Design & Portfolio Management Own-brand product branding and portfolio management for retail brands such as Watsons Makeup Miracle (lipstick/foundation portfolio), Collagen, Skin Advanced, Aa Kode+ male skincare, My Party Gal and Marionnaud 1984 cosmetics, including range design, packaging, portfolio extensions and product launches.
• Retail & Workspace Design Retail and corporate workspace design services, including in-store concepts such as Superdrug 'Beauty Studio' beautician concept and corporate environments such as Three HQ in Reading's Green Park.
• Digital Design & Content Creation Digital and motion design services covering visual asset creation, app UI/UX (e.g. Wuntu rewards app, App Island), website content and digital touchpoint assets such as Three UK's 'Aurora Borealis' asset built on the Aurora Sunrise brand color.
• Generative AI Creative Production Generative AI-assisted creative production combining AI-generated image and video content with traditional capture and post-production, used in campaigns such as Marionnaud's 'Beauty is a Legacy' (1984 collection).
• Brand Events & Internal Communications Branded communications and events services delivered with CKH IOD, including themed All-Hands events such as 'Making an Impact' and the annual CKHH Telco Brand Forum (e.g. 2023 in Rome).

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CKH IODcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCKH IOD is a Group business division set up to drive innovations, opportunities and development within CKHH and for external clients. WHAM has worked with CKH IOD since its inception, at strategic and creative level, delivering branded communications and events internally and externally. Collaboration includes All-Hands events themed 'Making an Impact' with delegates from Frequentis, eSIM and UK Power Networks.
• Live NationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWHAM collaborated with Three Ireland and Live Nation to redesign the Olympia Theatre's identity. The partnership also included 3Arena rebrand, centrepiece of Three Ireland's live music venue sponsorship strategy.
• Morgan LovellminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWHAM collaborated with office design firm Morgan Lovell and environment designer Jenny Smith to create Three HQ, a new working space in Reading's Green Park business zone.
• FutureDeluxeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWHAM collaborated with digital content designers FutureDeluxe on the Aurora Borealis asset creation project for Three UK, building on Three's distinctive Aurora Sunrise brand colour.
• Wonderhood StudiosminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWHAM collaborated with Three UK and lead advertising agency Wonderhood Studios to reinvigorate the telco brand with a refresh built on big network ambitions.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pentagram: Independent design studio offering brand identity, packaging, digital and campaign design. Comparable to WHAM in the type of multidisciplinary creative output (visual identity, product branding, campaign work) it produces for brand-led clients.
• DesignStudio: Brand-led design agency creating visual identities and brand systems for high-profile global clients. Comparable to WHAM in its focus on large-scale, multi-market brand identity programs.
• Moving Brands: Independent brand and experience design company delivering brand strategy, identity and motion design. Comparable to WHAM in its integrated, multidisciplinary creative approach and focus on brand-led transformation.
• Superunion: Brand and design consultancy (part of WPP) delivering brand strategy, identity, and experience design across consumer, retail, and corporate sectors. Directly comparable in scope and sector mix to WHAM's brand guardianship work.
• Landor & Fitch: Brand consulting and design firm specializing in brand strategy, identity, and design across consumer, retail, and corporate categories. Closely comparable to WHAM's multidisciplinary brand stewardship model serving large multi-vertical clients.
• Wolff Olins: Global brand consultancy delivering brand strategy, visual identity, and experience design for multinational clients. Directly comparable to WHAM in service offering (brand guardianship, identity systems, guidelines) across consumer-facing industries similar to WHAM's CKHH verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Omnicom Group: Global advertising, marketing, and corporate communications holding company. Broad incumbent providing integrated brand and creative services across multiple verticals, comparable to WHAM's multi-sector remit.
• Dentsu: Major international advertising and creative services group with strong APAC presence — particularly relevant given WHAM's Hong Kong base and Asian portfolio work (Watsons, Vietnamobile, HUTCHMED).
• Publicis Groupe: Major global advertising and communications holding company offering creative, branding, and digital services. Broad incumbent with comparable end-to-end creative capabilities serving large multinational clients.
• WPP: World's largest advertising and creative services holding company. Broad incumbent providing overlapping creative, branding, and digital services at scale — relevant as both competitor (if WHAM externalized) and ecosystem benchmark.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/whambrands
• Instagraminstagram.com/whamagency
• Xx.com/whambrands

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wham