Advertising Age
published a fluff piece hyping the WPP new business scheme under CEO Cindy Rose.
Okay, except WPP declined to comment for the content.
And most of the insider information came from anonymous
consultants, which translates to worthless opinion, clueless commentary, and
useless hearsay.
In short, the content is time-wasting bullshit.
According to Ad Age, the Roserrection—in
terms of new business acquisition—features heavy involvement from Rose.
Hey, Rose must earn the potential $19.1 million via
the pseudo outcomes-based
payment plan applied to her salary.
Rose reportedly appears at pitches live and/or by
pre-recorded videos.
Wonder if the videos are AI-generated messages, which
would fortify the White holding company’s—er, White single operating company’s—alleged
expertise with such technology. Or underscore how AI could easily replace the
average CEO.
Rose already stated layoffs are imminent. So, is new
business even a priority? Who would service newly acquired accounts?
Publicly juggling RIFs and RFPs is bad for morale. It doesn’t
help that Rose is still in the probationary period too.
WPP once boasted its
people “represent perhaps the most diverse example of diversity of any single
organisation.”
The statement should be revised as follows:
WPP represents perhaps the most diverse example of dysfunction
of any single organisation.
Inside WPP’s new business approach under Cindy Rose
By Ewan Larkin
WPP appears to be building some much-needed momentum in
the pitch room, picking up a string of marquee accounts in recent months under
new CEO Cindy Rose—though it still has a ways to go to fully right the ship.
The British advertising giant has notched recent wins
with Jaguar Land Rover, The Estée Lauder Cos., SC Johnson, Kenvue, the U.K.
government and Henkel. Some in the industry may attribute the streak to
aggressive pricing terms—a familiar narrative when agencies hit a run—but the
gains nonetheless offer some relief after 2025, when the company shed several
high-profile accounts. WPP is now working through a broader turnaround plan to
revive growth.
Early data suggests that momentum is translating into
results. According to COMvergence, which tracks agency new business activity
across 50 countries, WPP Media is currently the top-performing network among
the top five holding groups so far this year. It has raked in roughly $1.2
billion in new client wins and $520 million in retained billings, against about
$200 million in losses. The figures are provisional and subject to revision,
COMvergence noted.
By comparison, Omnicom Media has posted $280 million in
new client wins, $620 million in retained billings and $400 million in losses,
according to COMvergence. Publicis Media has recorded $120 million in new wins,
$75 million in retained billings and $25 million in losses. Publicis dominated
the new business front in 2025.
WPP’s new business strategy hasn’t changed significantly
in structure, according to people familiar with the matter, but it is improving
in how it’s presented, led and understood by marketers. Key to this turnaround
is Rose, who took the reins in September and is said to be quite present in
pitches, engaging with senior client leaders.
Ad Age dives into what’s working so far. WPP declined to
comment for this story.
Breaking down Cindy Rose’s involvement
The presence of a holding company CEO in a pitch is
becoming increasingly meaningful, with reviews now often involving top
executives on the client side. Those top-to-top conversations are taking on
greater weight, and Rose, a former Microsoft executive, seems to be making the
right early moves.
“She is very present,” said one marketing consultant who
has encountered Rose in the pitch room, speaking on condition of anonymity. The
consultant added that Rose has a different style from Publicis Groupe CEO
Arthur Sadoun—without the same “big personality”—but is “empathetic and very
commercial.”
The consultant likened Rose’s approach to Wendy Clark at
Dentsu, pointing to a transparent and measured leadership style that resonates
with clients. Rather than dominating the room, Rose is seen as engaging senior
marketers and CEOs directly while giving her teams space to lead the
conversation. She has formed a tight partnership with Devika Bulchandani, whom
she promoted from global CEO of Ogilvy to chief operating officer of WPP in
September.
That new role appears to have given Bulchandani space to
roam, as she has been prominent in reviews, including on the media side,
bringing a different perspective to those pitches, according to one person
close to WPP. “She’s involved in all of it,” this person said of Bulchandani.
“She’s a new business machine.”
Rose has also been appearing at the beginning of pitches
via pre-recorded video, according to David Indo, chief client officer at media
consultancy ID Comms. ID Comms supported U.K. consumer goods group Reckitt’s
recent review, in which WPP Media emerged as the European media agency of
record, working across 21 markets.
“She has successfully and effectively set the tone, even
though she’s delivering it remotely,” Indo said of Rose. “Her involvement in
pitch meetings does make a difference, and for clients to see that the new CEO
of WPP is actively investing in that particular process already positions the
WPP agency that is presenting in a good light.”
Indo said Rose’s involvement also marks a shift from her
predecessor, Mark Read. That added CEO presence, he said, represents a
“significant difference” and a “significant improvement” in how WPP shows up in
reviews.
The proposition becomes clearer, and outcomes take center
stage
Much of WPP’s focus in recent years has been on building
out its AI platform, WPP Open, and other tech capabilities. With much of that
groundwork now in place, the company is getting better at articulating how
those tools inform strategy rather than define it, according to the first
marketing consultant.
The holding company’s messaging is now that WPP Open
“informs good strategy, as opposed to the strategy being the data and the
tech,” the consultant said. “That’s quite a big distinction.”
“The proposition is getting a lot stronger,” this person
added. “The narrative is probably a bit stronger because they’ve picked up a
few wins—and people are reading about wins now, not exits, both on the client
side and among people.”
WPP is also pushing outcomes-based pricing more often
during reviews, said another marketing consultant, who noted that in one recent
media pitch the company proposed putting more of its fees at risk based on
performance than it had in similar pitches just a year ago. The approach is not
new—independent agencies, including Known, have adopted similar models—but
WPP’s stance appears to be getting more aggressive.
Rose herself is focused on articulating a high-level “win
together” narrative—emphasizing shared risk and “skin in the game”—while her
pricing and client leads handle the specifics, said a third marketing
consultant.
“They’re more upfront about it: ‘The way we work is
outcomes. We’re not selling time; we’re selling outcomes,’” said the second
consultant. “They’re introducing it earlier in the process.”
The Jaguar Land Rover win, in which WPP picked up media
and creative duties, is emerging as a key test case. In an investor meeting in
February, WPP said it was negotiating with the client on a model that ties fees
to measurable sales and outcomes rather than hours worked. Jaguar Land Rover
could not be immediately reached for comment.
Not all marketers are fully sold yet, however. The second
consultant said clients still want proof the model can deliver in practice,
particularly given the limited number of case studies and the level of
data-sharing required.
Humility and selectivity
There’s also a newfound humility to WPP in the pitch
room, said Indo, who noted a shift in tone over recent months, calling it
“intangible” but “extremely telling.” He attributed that change in part to
Rose’s more client-focused approach.
“For many years, WPP would attend presentations and there
would be a degree of arrogance they would bring into the room with them; a
degree of entitlement because they’d been so successful,” Indo said. “Sometimes
that translated into confidence and well-presented, well-articulated, coherent
pitches. Other times, it would be jarring for the client.”
Now, in the “pitches that I have been exposed to with
WPP, there is a natural humbleness they bring to the meeting room,” he
continued. “I don’t mean them being timid, but there is a level-setting and a
degree of humbleness that they bring into the meeting that is disarming and
engaging for the client.” Several other consultants also noted this shift.
WPP is also being selective, especially as it looks to
defend existing accounts, Indo said.
“They need to make sure they don’t lose business, but
they also need to generate some kind of organic growth, and so they are being
far more selective in the reviews they work on,” said Indo. “Their ability to
cherry-pick those reviews based on their perceived ability to win is very
sensible and very strategic.”
IBM serves as a good example. WPP Media declined to
defend the media account, and longtime partner Ogilvy is not participating in
the tech giant’s creative review, despite working with IBM for 32 years.
Room for improvement and what’s next
WPP’s recent flurry of victories doesn’t patch over the
broader issues, as the company works through a turnaround that includes £500
million ($678 million) in annual cost savings by 2028, including job cuts. The
third marketing consultant characterized the company’s new business progress as
stabilization rather than true momentum, noting that the sheer volume of
pitches currently underway makes it too early to draw firm conclusions.
WPP has reorganized around four WPP-branded divisions,
recasting itself as a single, unified company in a bid to make all its services
easier for marketers to access. It is too soon to tell how this revamp will pan
out, but the third consultant said some clients are wary that further
consolidation could dilute talent and lead to more commoditized work.
“Quite a few clients are a little cautious, especially
around the horizontal consolidation—what that means from a competition and
conflict point of view, and whether they will still have the best talent,"
this person said.
A fourth marketing consultant said WPP still has work to
do in the U.S., where its perception hasn’t fully recovered following years of
internal reorganizations. Clients in the region want to see more of WPP’s data
and tech capabilities fully operational and delivering results, too, this
person said. (Rose holds both British and American citizenship and is splitting
her time between London and New York.)
And of course, WPP is up against stiff competition.
Publicis has been flying high in recent years, including scooping up WPP
accounts such as Coca-Cola Co.’s media duties in North America and Mars’ global
media business in 2025. Following its acquisition of Interpublic Group of Cos.
in November, Omnicom is now the world’s largest agency company by revenue. But
despite these challenges, many consultants voiced optimism about WPP’s
prospects.
Right now, “it is a two-horse race,” said a fifth
industry consultant, “but you can’t count WPP out. They will catch up.”
