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Tag: Brian Lesser

  • WPP Media officially rises from GroupM, blending AI and ad muscle in $60bn makeover

    WPP Media officially rises from GroupM, blending AI and ad muscle in $60bn makeover

    MUMBAI: WPP has pulled the plug on GroupM and plugged in something slicker: WPP Media, its all-new, AI-charged global media company. The move signals a seismic shift in the advertising giant’s playbook, as it bets big on “creative personalisation at scale” in the AI age.

    The newly minted outfit unites more than $60 billion in annual media investment across 80-plus markets and claims to work with over 75 per cent of the world’s top advertisers. Mindshare, Wavemaker and EssenceMediacom aren’t going anywhere—they’re now operating as bespoke agency brands under the WPP Media umbrella, powered by shared tech, data and production firepower.

    At the heart of this revamp is WPP Open, the group’s AI-enabled marketing platform backed by a cool £300m annual investment and heavyweight AI partnerships. It’s billed as the ultimate integration engine—fusing creative, production, data, commerce and media delivery in one turbocharged stack.

    WPP Media CEO Brian Lesser explained: “Consumers already expect advertising to be relevant and engaging and buying experiences to be seamless; those expectations are only going to accelerate in the age of AI. WPP Media is built for a world in which media is everywhere and in everything. By investing in our AI-powered product, integrating our offer with data and technology, and equipping our people with future-facing skills, we’re helping our clients to stay ahead of rapidly changing consumer behavior and unlock the limitless opportunities for growth that AI will create.”

    WPP CEO Mark Read highlighted: “We believe that WPP is the strongest marketing partner for the world’s leading brands in the AI era, where technology and talent converge. The move to WPP Media continues our strategy to simplify and integrate our offer for clients. While GroupM was built for a time when media scale mattered most, WPP Media reflects the power of AI, data and technology and simpler, more integrated solutions.”

    It’s not just about the tech, though. The company says it’s doubling down on people—investing in learning and development to future-proof talent for the AI-powered marketing world.

    Points out Read: “Our vision for the future is clear – marketing that is informed by data, led by seamlessly connected teams of brilliant people, and full of new opportunities for our clients.”

    To spread the word, WPP is rolling out a cross-channel B2B blitz aimed squarely at CMOs and C-suite suits. The message: AI is here, it’s hungry, and it needs humans to thrive.

    In true WPP flair, the relaunch isn’t just a name change. It’s a brand makeover, a tech upgrade, and a culture reset—all rolled into one. As the world’s biggest advertisers brace for an AI tidal wave, WPP Media is positioning itself as the surfboard.

  • WPP snaps up InfoSum, promising a data-driven bonanza for brands

    WPP snaps up InfoSum, promising a data-driven bonanza for brands

    MUMBAI:  WPP has bagged InfoSum, the data collaboration cutting edge solutions provider. This acquisition, a proper “data-licious” deal, promises to supercharge WPP’s AI-driven marketing arsenal, giving clients access to a treasure trove of data signals.

    “At WPP, we have been building the technology and data infrastructure that will give our clients a unique competitive advantage in the AI era. Bringing InfoSum into WPP is a major step forward for our data capabilities and the results we can deliver for our clients,” said WPP CEO Mark Read. “It allows clients to stay in complete control of their first-party data, while also giving them access to vastly greater quantities of high-quality, privacy-compliant data and pioneering technology that is not available anywhere else in the market today.”

    InfoSum’s patented cross-cloud tech allows brands to mingle their data with billions of signals from big hitters Channel 4, DirecTV, ITV, Netflix, News Corp, and Samsung Ads, as well as major retailers around the world and five billion identifiers through identity and data partners like Experian, TransUnion, Circana, Dynata, and NCSolutions. 
     
    “InfoSum’s mission has always been to reimagine how data powers marketing in a secure, privacy-first, and, most importantly, impactful way for advertisers and consumers. WPP and GroupM are the perfect partners to help us accelerate our impact on a truly global scale. We couldn’t be more excited to join forces with the team at GroupM as privacy and security become non-negotiables, and AI allows us to redefine what’s possible for advertisers and our network of media and data partners,” quipped InfoSum  chief executive Lauren Wetzel, who’ll now be pulling double duty as GroupM’s chief solutions officer.

    GroupM chief executive officer Brian Lesser was equally enthusiastic, stating, ” Directly integrating InfoSum’s global data network and technology infrastructure will allow our clients to create even more value from their first-party data and enable us to train client AI models against the most data, from the most places, at unprecedented scale and speed. Our approach recognizes the importance of identity data to today’s marketing strategies while allowing us to take advantage of the limitless opportunities for growth we can create by moving beyond them. As more and more clients leverage our AI-first solutions, every client model, every audience, and every campaign will benefit from network effects that will exponentially increase their intelligence and competitive advantage.” 

    The deal allows WPP’s clients to train custom AI models in secure environments, delivering smarter audiences, optimised campaigns, and better business outcomes. Basically, it allows the ability to get your hands on all the juicy information, without anyone else seeing your private bits.

    InfoSum’s network boasts hundreds of billions of data signals, and five billion identifiers, allowing for a level of insight that’s previously been the stuff of marketing fantasies. No more relying on those crumbling cookie-based systems, which are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

    This acquisition represents a bold leap into the future of predictive performance and AI-driven marketing intelligence. WPP is betting big on AI, and with InfoSum in its pocket, it’s ready to unleash a marketing storm that’ll leave competitors scrambling for cover.

  • GroupM names Brian Lesser as CEO, North America

    GroupM names Brian Lesser as CEO, North America

    MUMBAI: WPP’s GroupM has appointed Brian Lesser as CEO for business in the US and Canada.

     

    Lesser was previously Xaxis global CEO. He succeeds Kelly Clark, who will be transitioning to a new advisory role focused on strategic initiatives with clients and specialty businesses over the coming months.

     

    With this, Brian Gleason will succeed Lesser as Xaxis global CEO.

     

    In concert with these changes, GroupM global chief digital officer Rob Norman adds the position of chairman, North America to his responsibilities.

     

    The new roles for the two executives reflect GroupM’s certainty that the future of media-driven marketing is inextricably tied to data and technology. Key investments and partnerships over the past several years that support this positioning include WPP’s investments in comScore and AppNexus; GroupM’s and Kantar Media’s partnership with Rentrak; more recent alliances with BuzzFeed and Networked Insights; introduction of the industry’s first data management platform and first programmatic audience platform; introduction of Modi Media, the first fully-formed advanced TV specialty business delivering addressable TV ads at scale; and numerous progressive positions on digital ad viewability and measurement that are focused on raising the bar for effectiveness and trading currency.

     

    While driving advancement in North America, Lesser and Norman also each continue serving on GroupM’s global executive committee, led by GroupM global president Dominic Proctor and global chairman Irwin Gotlieb.

     

    “Brian will be a huge part of our future and his appointment reflects our values and ambition, as well as WPP’s drive to achieve 40-45% of revenues from digital in five years. Our future is being built on tech, data, talent and scale.  Brian absolutely gets that and is perfectly suited to help us shape that future to best serve advertisers.  We’re very fortunate to have him leading our business in the world’s biggest market,” said Proctor.

     

    “GroupM has continuously evolved with clients through major shifts in the media landscape and consumer behavior with data and technology having always been part of the value proposition. GroupM has challenged convention and forced dialogue on important issues to help clients be more successful. I’m humbled and grateful to have an opportunity to help continue this legacy at this time when complexity is more profound than ever,” added Lesser.

     

    “This is an exciting time for our company. We have many successes to count and new marketplace challenges to conquer, but above all, we have the strength of our agency brands, our specialist enterprises and our increasing differentiation in the management and application of data that leave us exceptionally well-positioned for the future. I’m energized by the road ahead and excited to work with Brian and our colleagues on the executive committee for the next chapter,” said Norman.

  • WPP’s Xaxis launches Light Reaction

    WPP’s Xaxis launches Light Reaction

    MUMBAI: WPP’s programmatic media and technology platform Xaxis has formally launched Light Reaction, a new mobile-first performance advertising business with an innovative outcomes-based, pay-for-performance media model.

     

    Light Reaction’s performance model is designed to combine scientific insight into how audiences perceive, relate and react to advertising with the data resources and scale of Xaxis to deliver highly accountable results for global brands. At launch, Light Reaction will be available in 20 markets across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

     

    Light Reaction’s response-oriented methodology and model is designed to maximize the volume of outcomes a brand is able to achieve. In an engagement with German retailer Walbusch, Light Reaction was tasked with the specific outcome of driving new customer sales. Utilizing real-time creative optimization, Light Reaction’s campaign increased new customer sales by 17 per cent, while decreasing new customer acquisition costs by eight per cent. Walbusch utilized Light Reaction’s pay-for-performance model and only paid for directly attributed new customer sales.

     

    Light Reaction’s performance marketing platform leverages the mobile-first technology of recent Xaxis acquisition ActionX, a leader in mobile app and cross-screen advertising; the programmatic capabilities of the QuismaX performance products previously provided by GroupM’s QUISMA; and Turbine, Xaxis’ proprietary data management platform, which provides real-time audience segmentation and modelling capabilities. Advertisers will have the opportunity to pair Light Reaction outcome-focused media products alongside Xaxis audience products.

     

    Xaxis executive vice president, general manager, performance marketing Paul Dolan will head Light Reaction as general manager.

     

    “Light Reaction makes it easy for global advertisers to garner the outcomes they want with zero upfront risk and unparalleled capability to scale results across multiple channels. We’ve developed a model for performance marketing that allows brands to meet precise objectives of customer response while drawing a direct line between ads and results,” said Dolan.

     

    In addition to leveraging robust audience data, high-performing media inventory and real-time programmatic technologies, Light Reaction is developing tools that tap the emerging field of perceptual science to help advertisers stand out amidst the crowded digital real-estate of consumers’ mobile devices. This understanding of the perceptual pathway by which audiences process and respond to dynamic creative will enhance Light Reaction’s ability to maximize desired outcomes under the broadest possible set of conditions. While Light Reaction’s mobile-first approach reflects the ever-increasing prominence of mobile, its products are channel agnostic. Advertisers can run coordinated campaigns across multiple channels to capture outcomes wherever they may be.

     

    “Mobile is the only digital media channel that’s essentially always-on, making it a huge target for global advertisers. With Light Reaction we’re arming clients to cut the through the clutter of the space with a platform that takes performance marketing to a new level of customization and accountability, particularly in driving outcomes via mobile devices,” said Xaxis global CEO Brian Lesser.

  • Group M to launch Xaxis in India in 6 months

    MUMBAI: Xaxis, Group M‘s audience buying company is initiating a nine-market roll out in the the South Asia region over the next six months. The company has announced the opening of a headquarter in Singapore, while the next markets will include India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

    According to an official communiqué, the existing Xaxis operations in Australia will also come under the umbrella of the new headquarters, which represents the industry‘s most comprehensive network of digital endpoints across online, mobile, social and video platforms.

    Global digital media executive Michel de Rijk will be joining Xaxis Asia-Pacific as managing director. Prior to Xaxis, de Rijk was with a digital ad firm EyeWonder as senior executive. He has also worked for Dutch publisher De Telefoongids.

    de Rijk said, “As the largest audience-buying company in the world, Xaxis has an unmatched understanding of the global digital media-buying space along with local presence and expertise in each market it operates in. This combination allows Xaxis to deliver proven audience solutions that are custom-fit for executing targeted campaigns market by market. From mobile in Indonesia to video in Taiwan, Xaxis offers maximum precision when delivering ads in all markets.”

    Xaxis CEO Brian Lesser added, “This commitment to expansion throughout the Asia-Pacific region follows a year of success and growth in North America, Europe and Australia. Ad spend in the region is expected to reach $170 billion within the next two years with online ad spend making up 31 per cent of the growth. Our clients have asked us to apply our knowledge and experience executing audience campaigns to the region. This launch displays the first step in our commitment to the region and will be followed with an aggressive expansion.”

    Xaxis provides audience buying solutions to more than 700 global advertisers, delivering over 300 billion impressions each year. The proprietary Xaxis data management platform (DMP) houses the collection of audience portraits. Xaxis DMP allows advertisers to measure attribution, offline ROI, audience insights and brand impact based on the entire digital plan, not just the Xaxis portion of the plan.

    GroupM Asia Pacific CEO Mark Patterson said, “We have ambitious plans with Xaxis in the region. Our drive for value and improved audience delivery for our clients, as well as ownership of that capability – versus outsourcing as many groups do – will help us deliver on both, securely and rapidly, for our clients across the region and the digital spectrum.”

    By year‘s end, Xaxis plans to have offices in over 25 markets around the world.