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Tag: WPP OPen

  • WPP hires Mariel Maciá as senior director of strategic design for Open unit

    WPP hires Mariel Maciá as senior director of strategic design for Open unit

    MUMBAI: WPP has appointed Mariel Maciá as senior director of strategic design within its WPP Open team, strengthening the agency group’s push to blend human creativity with artificial intelligence in marketing and brand experience.

    Maciá joins after more than five years at McKinsey & Company, where she served as senior service design manager in Berlin. Before that, she held design leadership roles at Die Krieger des Lichts and the innogy Innovation Hub, and earlier worked in film acquisition, production and festival programming across Europe and Latin America.

    Trained in audiovisual narrative in Buenos Aires, Maciá has built a career spanning media, design and digital transformation. At WPP, she will focus on reimagining how design thinking and emerging technologies can unlock new opportunities in advertising, media and customer experience.

    “The journey ahead is incredibly exciting,” she said, adding that she looks forward to collaborating with “the brilliant minds across WPP.”

  • WPP slashes dividend in half as advertising giant struggles with client cuts

    WPP slashes dividend in half as advertising giant struggles with client cuts

    LONDON: WPP, the world’s biggest advertising agency, delivered a sobering performance in the first half of 2025, slashing its interim dividend by 50 per cent as profits tumbled and clients tightened their belts.
    The London-listed giant reported headline operating profit of £412m for the six months to June, down 36 per cent from £646m a year earlier. Revenue less pass-through costs—the industry’s preferred measure—fell 4.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis to £5.03bn.

    The company cut its interim dividend to 7.5p per share from 15p previously, with the board citing the need to give incoming chief executive Cindy Rose “room to review the group’s strategy and capital allocation policy”.
    Mark Read, who steps down as chief executive on 1 September after seven years at the helm, acknowledged the difficulties. “It has been a challenging first half given pressures on client spending and a slower new business environment,” he said.

    The results underscore the advertising industry’s struggles as companies slash marketing budgets amid economic uncertainty. WPP’s top 25 clients managed only flat growth, while key sectors including consumer goods and automotive weakened in the second quarter.

    WPP has made “significant progress” repositioning its media division, which replaced GroupM in May as part of chief executive Read’s drive to simplify the sprawling conglomerate. The unit, now called WPP Media, has undergone substantial restructuring to make it more client-focused.

    The company expects severance action taken in the second quarter alone to generate more than £150m of annual cost savings from 2026. Headcount has fallen 3.7 per cent since the start of the year to 104,000 people.
    Despite the gloom, WPP continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence and data capabilities. Usage of WPP Open, its AI-powered marketing platform, has surged, with 85 per cent of client-facing staff now using it monthly, up from 60 per cent in March.

    The company also completed the acquisition of InfoSum, a data collaboration platform, and launched Open Intelligence, an AI tool designed to predict audience behaviour.

    Looking ahead, WPP expects like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs to decline between 3 per cent and 5 per cent for the full year. Headline operating profit margin is forecast to drop by 50 to 175 basis points.
    The company’s performance varied widely by region. North America, WPP’s largest market, saw revenue less pass-through costs fall 2.4 per cent, while China plunged 16.6 per cent amid persistent macroeconomic pressures.

    At the prestigious Cannes Lions festival in June, WPP was named creative company of the year, providing some cheer amid the financial turbulence. The group’s agencies secured 168 Lions, including a coveted Titanium Lion.

    Average adjusted net debt stood at £3.4bn at the end of June, giving a debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 1.98 times—outside the company’s target range of 1.5 to 1.75 times.

    Shares in WPP have struggled this year as investors fret about the advertising downturn and the company’s transformation efforts. The stock trades well below pre-pandemic levels, reflecting the challenges facing traditional advertising agencies in an increasingly digital world.

    Rose, who joins from Microsoft, faces the daunting task of restoring growth while maintaining WPP’s position as the industry leader. Her strategic review will be closely watched by investors hoping for a clearer path forward for the advertising behemoth.

  • WPP boss Mark Read to sign off at year-end after 30-year ad-venture

    WPP boss Mark Read to sign off at year-end after 30-year ad-venture

    MUMBAI: WPP plc has just hit ‘next’ on its leadership playlist. The British ad giant announced that long-time chief executive officer Mark Read will hang up his boots and step down from the board on 31 December 2025, marking the end of a 30-year run—including a high-octane seven-year stint steering the ship as CEO. The search for his successor is already underway.

    WPP chair  Philip Jansen, heaped praise on Read’s legacy, hailing him as a transformational force. “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Mark for his contributions not only as CEO but throughout his more than 30 years of leadership and service to the Company. During that time Mark has played a central role in transforming the Company into a world leader in modern marketing services, with deep AI, data and technology capabilities, global presence and unrivalled creative talent, setting WPP up well for longer-term success,” said Jansen.” We are pleased that Mark will continue to lead WPP as CEO until the end of the year, remaining focused on the execution of the Company’s growth strategy and supporting a smooth transition to his successor, once appointed.”

    In a heartfelt sign-off, Read said leading WPP had been “an immense privilege.” When he took the reins in 2018, his mission was to simplify the business, power up its creative engines, and plug it into cutting-edge tech. By most accounts, he’s delivered.

    Said Read: “WPP is an incredible company with over 100,000 talented and creative people, wonderful clients and partners, and an unmatched presence around the world. It has been an immense privilege to serve as its CEO for the past seven years.

    “When I took on this role our mission was to build a simpler, stronger business, and put structure and new energy behind our creativity and performance, powered by world-leading technology. I am proud that our teams across the business have delivered that exceptionally well. Our clients today rate us more highly than ever before, we now work with four of the world’s five most valuable companies, and our revenues with our biggest clients have grown consistently.

    “Our business starts with creativity, and I was delighted for our teams that last year we were once again named Creative Company of the Year at Cannes Lions. We have also positioned WPP at the forefront of the industry with our investments in AI and, with the full launch of WPP Open this year, we are now leading the way as AI transforms marketing. We have an exceptional leadership team and a secure financial position that allows us to face the future confidently and capture the opportunities ahead.

    “After seven years in the role, and with the foundations in place for WPP’s continued success, I feel it is the right time to hand over the leadership of this amazing company. I am excited to explore the next chapter in my life and can only thank all the brilliant people I have been lucky enough to work with over the last 30 years, and who have made possible the enormous progress we have achieved together. I would also like to thank Phil and the rest of the Board for their steadfast support for me and the wider executive team, and I look forward to supporting them in the transition to my successor in the coming months.”

    WPP now works with four of the world’s five most valuable companies, and its largest clients are spending more than ever. He also gave a nod to WPP Open, the firm’s AI-powered platform, calling it a game-changer that’s keeping WPP ahead of the curve as artificial intelligence rewrites the rules of marketing.

    “I feel it is the right time to hand over the leadership of this amazing company,” said Read. “We’ve built the foundations for future success, and I look forward to exploring the next chapter in my life.”

    WPP, which employs over 100,000 people across the globe, is now on the hunt for a new commander-in-chief to build on Read’s digital-first, AI-fuelled momentum.

    The Mad Men era is long gone—WPP 2.0 is ready for its next act.

  • 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.