17160: Financially Struggling WPP Media Opens Credit Card Account. Priceless.

 

Advertising Age reported Mastercard named WPP Media its global White media firm—although winning the $180 million account only partially offsets the multi-billion-dollar losses experienced by the recently rebranded company in the past year.

 

Wonder if outgoing WPP CEO Mark Read or incoming WPP CEO Cindy Rose will take credit for the assignment. Maybe the two deserve fractional recognition.

 

Hell, the relationship probably started with beleaguered WPP seeking monetary assistance from the financial services corporation.

 

There are some things money can’t buy—like resuscitating Adland’s biggest dinosaur—for everything else there’s MasterCard.

 

Mastercard awards WPP global media account, citing AI and data capabilities

 

By Ewan Larkin and Brian Bonilla

 

Mastercard has hired WPP Media to lead global media strategy, planning and buying in a vote of confidence in the network’s AI and data capabilities.

 

WPP Media replaces Dentsu’s Carat, which had handled the account since 2014. Mastercard has also hired WPP-owned Ogilvy to help it with social listening and be more reactive. McCann, a fixture in the financial services giant’s marketing for decades, remains its creative agency of record and its lead agency on social campaigns.

 

“As Mastercard continues to evolve—and to refine the future of marketing in an AI- and data-driven era—we’re expanding the role of our media partnerships to take on a new shape and support more integrated business needs," the company said in its statement. “That’s why we’ve made the strategic decision to partner with WPP Media to lead our media strategy, planning and buying across more than 70 international markets.”

 

The win—the first significant global slice of business for the rebranded WPP Media—comes after the network told Ad Age in April that it had resigned from Mastercard competitor PayPal’s account to “pursue other opportunities.”

 

In describing the decision to hire WPP Media, Mastercard cited the network’s global reach and “advanced AI and data capabilities”—strengths the group has been highlighting through recent investments such as Open Intelligence, its data solution and AI system. Open Intelligence underpins Open Media Studio, WPP’s end-to-end media delivery platform.

 

Mastercard’s decision also comes just weeks before Cindy Rose, chief operating officer of Microsoft’s global enterprise business, takes the reins as WPP CEO on Sept. 1, replacing Mark Read. It also helps WPP begin to recover from a string of high-profile media losses, including Mars’ $1.7 billion global business and Coca-Cola Co.’s North America account, both won by Publicis.

 

Mastercard’s global media spend totaled $180 million in 2024, according to estimates from COMvergence.

 

The appointment is a “testament to the AI-based data solutions we are building at WPP to fuel intelligent growth,” said Rose.