The move comes a day after the United States and Cuba formally agreed to restore diplomatic relations on July 20, setting up a trip to Havana by John Kerry, who would become the first U.S. secretary of state to visit the country in 70 years.

WPP, which is parent to the Ogilvy & Mather and J. Walter Thomson advertising networks and already generates group revenue of $1.6 billion in Latin America, said it has signed a contract with state-owned firm Palco Group under which it will base an executive in Havana.

The company said it had been in contact with a number of Cuban agencies and enterprises since February and had maintained contacts with Cuban and international firms to provide its services from a local base in the near future.

(The story has been refiled to correct syntax and drop word "advertising" as descriptor for Palco Group in third paragraph)

(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang; Editing by David Holmes)