WPP agencies Wunderman, BrandAsset Consulting and ZAAZ will lead the project, in partnership with Microsoft Advertising, in an attempt to better understand how search builds brands differently to traditional media.
It comes as major digital players anticipate the next generation of search engine marketing, including the launch of Microsoft's Bing last month.
David Sable, vice-chairman and chief operating officer of Wunderman, said the connection between brand building and search marketing was "at best, spotty", and that marketers were currently "spending billions on search engine marketing, primarily as a direct response mechanism".
He added the WPP coalition were "intrigued by the next generation of search engine marketing" and "the opportunity it presents for consumers to embrace brands".
The study will encompass the impact search is having on WPP's blue-chip clients and consumers around the world. Advertisers included in the WPP family are Unilever, Ford, Mars, GsK and the COI.
Scott Howe, corporate vice-president of the Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft, said the partnership provided an opportunity to "rethink preconceived notions" surrounding search, and how the connections between search and display were becoming "increasingly interwoven to drive brand awareness".
The investigation will culminate in a WPP report shared with the industry during Advertising Week in the US in September.
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