WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell quits
Sir Martin Sorrell – the world’s most powerful advertising executive – has abruptly resigned.
His shock exit comes days after the WPP board instigated an investigation into an allegation of “personal misconduct”.
Sir Martin Sorrell
The announcement came through on Saturday night UK time, which was Sunday morning in Australia. The company is now hunting for a new CEO.
Having worked at one of his companies in years gone by and having seen how he operates I’ll simply say, couldn’t happen to a more deserving person.
Boy oh boy is there a story in here….
This is a great piece (from Campaign UK) looking in depth at his legacy :
https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/sorrell-departs-wpp-outsider-shaped-global-ad-industry/1462145
There’s a bid on for WPP — so Sorrell had to go.
Watch for the impending breakup and acquisition by Accenture.
Good time to buy WPP shares after they take a pummeling. Acquisition will no doubt come at a premium given the price of Accenture’s money.
Banning the drinks trolley was the final straw….
Yikes, is no one safe these days.
Irrespective of the veracity or otherwise of any allegations against that highly talented and enormously successful executive, WPP has peaked.
With the pre-eminence of FaceBook, Google and YouTube, traditional or legacy media – which the WPP model has essentially relied on for over 30 years – continues down its long death spiral.
Mumbrella, of course, the conception of the immensely clever and prescient Tim Burrowes, is antithetical to legacy media.
Thus, it lengthens its stride on the increasingly sunlit, broad uplands of the 21st century media landscape.
This marks the end of sprawling BIGness and bureaucratic monster organisations.
Mark Sweney @ The Guardian summed it up best in 3 paragraphs…
Whoever takes on WPP will find keeping the sprawling empire – autocratically run with an iron hand with what has been dubbed “Sorrellcentricity” – intact perhaps an impossible task.
Observers believe that Sorrell’s departure will have rapid and catastrophic ramifications for WPP and the wider global advertising eco-system.
“Martin falls, WPP falls,” said one senior advertising executive at a rival global holding company. “There will be chaos. The industry is not prepared, clients are not prepared. In the short term there will be chaos. The advertising industry is run like show business. It’s all about short-termism and that’s the problem.”
“Have a staff turnover of 50% or higher? It’s okay as long as your exceeding your financial KPI’s and driving client spend” probs something Sorrel said
Ahh – put Conaghan in charge and all will be sweet