WPP to centralise creative operations
WPP CEO Cindy Rose vows to change in an address at the end of 2025
WPP is set to overhaul its creative operations with a new structure, “WPP Creative,” in one of the first major initiatives under recently joined CEO Cindy Rose.
The world’s largest advertising holding company is reportedly preparing to bring its creative agencies—including Ogilvy, VML, and AKQA—under a single umbrella. The story first broke in the Financial Times.
Sources familiar with the topic told Mumbrella the process would not involve a full amalgamation of the agencies. Each brand would continue to service clients independently, but certain functions would be simplified and centralised, mirroring similar moves WPP has previously made in its Media and Production divisions. The changes in production led to the recent retirement of the Hogarth brand.
It is believed that media agencies such as Mindshare, Wavemaker, and EssenceMediacom will continue to exist as client-facing brands, though they may no longer operate as fully separate business units with their own profit-and-loss lines.
WPP did not comment when contacted by Mumbrella.
The report comes as WPP prepares to onboard two new creative leaders in Australia and New Zealand. Former Dentsu CEO Kirsty Muddle is set to take over Ogilvy ANZ in March, while VML recently appointed former TBWA ANZ boss Paul Bradbury as its new CEO.
Its third core creative agency, AKQA, is currently led by managing director Justine Leong.
WPP AUNZ CEO Rose Herceg, who took over local leadership in 2022, primarily focuses on creative and production operations, with Aimee Buchanan largely overseeing media.
Rose Herceg
As such, it is understood that none of the three agency leaders is expected to move into the WPP Creative leadership role.
Globally, the FT’s report comes after a turbulent week on the stock market for major advertising holding companies amid investor fears about the impact of artificial intelligence on traditional business models.
Sparked in part by the launch of a plug-in for Anthropic’s Claude Cowork AI tool, shares of groups including Publicis, Omnicom, and WPP tumbled over the weekend.
WPP has sought to address concerns about AI competition with the launch of WPP Open Pro, a purported one-stop shop aimed at helping smaller brands manage end-to-end campaign and media processes.
Built on WPP’s new Open operating system, the platform forms part of the holding company’s landmark $400‑million deal with Google, enabling it to integrate the large language model Gemini and other Alphabet AI technologies, such as Veo, into its campaign tools.
At the same time, media platforms including Google and Meta are rolling out their own AI-driven, end-to-end campaign tools — Performance Max and Advantage+, respectively — which automate creative generation, iteration and and optimisation.
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