17436: FYI WPP CTO WTF.

 

Adweek reported WPP hired a Chief Transformation Officer: someone with a somewhat vague ambition to do something to somehow actualize Eviscerate28 someday, presumably by sometime in 2028.

 

WPP couldn’t get its story straight, claiming the role was new, even though a former WPP executive held the title. Plus, ex-WPP CEO Mark Read once declared the White holding company would become a “creative transformation” enterprise.

 

At WPP, transformation is a buzzword typically preceding transition in the form of mass layoffs.

 

At this point, it’s hard to distinguish Autobots from Decepticons in the corporate drama. Optimus Prime would concede defeat if faced with WPP’s transformers saga.

 

Wonder if McKinsey & Company recommended hiring a CTO in the recent strategic review, as the consultancy has defined the fuzzy function.

 

The new executive previously worked at Estée Lauder, which should come in handy since she must now put lipstick on a pig.

 

WPP Taps Estée Lauder’s Anne-Isabelle Choueiri as Chief Transformation Officer 

 

She’ll be central to the group’s three-year turnaround plan

 

By Rebecca Stewart

 

WPP has hired Anne-Isabelle Choueiri from The Estée Lauder Companies as chief transformation officer to help reset the business as it seeks to return to growth by 2028.

 

Based in New York and reporting to CEO Cindy Rose, Choueiri will be tasked with designing, implementing, and embedding the operations to execute WPP’s “Elevate28″ three-year turnaround plan. The advertising network announced its turnaround strategy in February, after it posted an 8.1% year-on-year revenue decline.

 

In a press release, WPP said Choueiri will lead efforts to make WPP more innovative, efficient, and better connected for clients.

 

She will sit on the executive committee, and key parts of her role will include baking AI and tech into WPP’s day-to-day processes, as well as working with its people team to bring staff along with the changes.

 

Choueiri has spent the last six years working at Estée Lauder’s parent group, most recently as SVP of transformation. While there, she shaped the beauty giant’s operating model and its marketing, data, and analytics capabilities. She also led its AI strategy.

 

Previously, Choueiri held leadership roles at consultancies including Accenture, Bain’s Masaï, and Kearney.

 

WPP described the transformation chief role as newly created. However, holdco veteran Lindsay Pattison previously held the position in 2017, subsequently becoming chief client and chief people officer, before departing in 2025.

 

‘Bold, lasting change’

 

Rose said delivering on “Elevate28” would mean transforming how WPP operates and shows up for clients, adding that Choueiri was “exactly the leader [WPP] needs to drive bold, lasting change.”

 

She has already started transforming the business, having joined just as its share price hit a 16-year low in September 2025. Her reset plan has been designed to stabilize the business in 2026, build momentum in 2027, and return it to growth from 2028 onwards. 

To achieve this, WPP is now oriented around four units: WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production, and WPP Enterprise Solutions, across four key regions: North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC. This new setup is underpinned by its proprietary AI platform, WPP Open.

 

When she announced the plan two months ago, Rose said the sweeping restructure would deliver annual cost savings of $676 million (£500 million) and was informed by six months of “rigorous analysis” and conversations with WPP’s clients, which include Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestle, and Ford. The holdco brought on McKinsey to lead a strategic review in November.

 

At the time, the CEO offered little detail on what specific cuts or asset sales would deliver this target.

 

While Rose declined to go into specifics about potential further layoffs, she stated that WPP would consolidate leadership at “global, regional, and market levels” and remove duplicate roles across its creative agencies. She also said the group would de-duplicate functions across its finance and people teams over the next three years.

 

In a statement on her new role, Choueiri said she was joining WPP at a “pivotal moment.”

 

“Lasting transformation requires the right culture and operational mindset, and I’m excited to help build an environment where innovation thrives, and our people are empowered to embrace change,” she said.

17435: On Meta & Google Platform Addiction.

 

MediaPost published commentary on the recent court case ruling Meta and Google (YouTube) liable for platform addiction—a milestone being referred to as social media’s Big Tobacco moment.

 

Will further investigations uncover Menthol moments targeting Blacks?

 

The ‘Big Tobacco’ Moment For Social Media

 

By Maarten Albarda, Featured Contributor

 

Be honest, how many times have you discussed “dwell time” and “session frequency” with your agency or marketing team? We’d look at a chart showing a user spiraling down a three-hour rabbit hole of auto-playing videos and infinite scrolls and think the targeting was super-efficient.

 

But this week, a jury in Los Angeles just looked at those same charts and called them something else: a defective product.

 

For the first time ever, a U.S. jury has found Meta and Google (YouTube) liable for platform addiction. Hot on the heels of that moment, a New Mexico jury slapped Meta with a $375 million verdict over child safety and misleading “safety” claims.

 

This isn’t just another “Big Tech is mean” news cycle. Many have called this the Big Tobacco moment for the social media industry. And if you’re a CMO, your media plan may just have become a potential legal and ethical liability.

 

For years, platforms hid behind a legal framework called Section 230, a “shield” that says they aren’t responsible for what people post. But these recent rulings did something different: They ignored the content and went after the conduct.

 

The courtroom arguments weren’t about a specific bad video or objectionable meme. It was about the design of the platform. The infinite scroll? That’s not a feature; it’s a hook. The aggressive autoplay? That’s a dopamine trap. The court ruled that these platforms are designed to be addictive by nature—and that the companies knew the harm they were causing.

 

For decades, and by the platform’s own guidance, they claimed to be neutral utilities. We assumed if our “brand safety” filters kept our pre-roll ads away from extremist content or the “wrong” target audience, we were the good guys.

 

But here’s how these verdicts have reframed the advertisers’ position: We’ve been funding the R&D of addiction. And with that, are advertisers therefore complicit?

 

Let’s look at this through the lens of your 2026/27 strategy. If Meta and Google are forced to dismantle the very features that drive their “efficiency” (if they have to kill the infinite scroll or opt everyone out of algorithmic “hooks”) your reach is going to diminish.

Your “cost per minute” is going to skyrocket, because those minutes will suddenly become much harder to manufacture. And it will be much harder to identify and single out specific groups of users, based on their interest or behaviors.

 

The “efficiency” we’ve been bragging about to our boards was built on a foundation that a jury just declared negligent. That’s a structural collapse of the very medium.

 

So what should you do? Well, you don’t need to panic and delete your accounts today (there will be appeals), but you do need to stop being a passive advertiser.

 

Ask your media agency for a breakdown of how much of your budget is going toward “forced” or “hook-based” engagement versus intentional, lean-forward viewing. If your ROI is entirely dependent on a user being “trapped” in a feed, you’re in need of a redo.

 

Traditional brand safety is about adjacency: What am I next to? Start asking if the platforms you support are legally compliant with these new standards of design safety.

 

And if the largest part of your budget is in the duopoly, you’re overleveraged in a damaged model. Move toward environments where the user is by choice, not by “loop.”

 

As it turns out, the algorithm might just be a legal liability.

17434: The #1 And #2 Reasons To Hate Huggies Pull-Ups Campaign.

   

Huggies Pull-Ups campaign features animated pee and pooh critters…?

 

The responsible creative team should receive golden showers before being shat on.

17433: FYI Omnicom IBM WTF.

Advertising Age reported Omnicom offset its Acura creative business loss by landing the IBM global media account.

 

Given the Acura account was creative, any fired drones are unlikely to benefit from the IBM media acquisition.

 

Then again, IBM is conducting a creative review and prefers to consolidate its marketing partners roster. And incumbent White advertising agency Ogilvy is declining to defend its 32-year relationship. So, Omnicom could eventually pick up IBM creative duties too.

 

No IBM technology exists to compute, coordinate, and clarify the Corporate Cultural Collusion, conspiring, and chaos ahead.

 

Omnicom wins IBM’s global media account

 

By Ewan Larkin and Brian Bonilla

 

IBM has awarded Omnicom its global media account following a review, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

 

Omnicom Media referred calls for comment to IBM, which could not be immediately reached. The review was handled by Michael Kassan’s 3C Ventures, which wasn’t immediately available for comment. Publicis Groupe was a finalist in the review, Ad Age has learned. The holding company did not return a request for comment.

 

IBM’s global media spend totaled $190 million in 2025, down sharply from $330 million in 2024, according to COMvergence estimates. Initiative, which is now part of Omnicom following its acquisition of Interpublic Group of Cos., had been handling IBM’s media business in EMEA, according to COMvergence.

 

WPP Media, the incumbent, declined to defend the media account. And WPP’s Ogilvy, IBM’s longtime creative partner, is not participating in the tech giant’s ongoing creative review.

 

“Ogilvy has made the decision not to participate in the upcoming creative RFP for IBM,” Ogilvy said in a statement shared with Ad Age in March. “We are immensely proud of our 32-year partnership, a tenure nearly unrivaled in this industry. Together, we have built one of the world’s most iconic brands through campaigns that defined eras of technological progress … We celebrate our shared history and wish the IBM team continued success.”

 

IBM stunned the ad world on May 24, 1994, when it summarily fired more than 40 ad agencies and consolidated its then-$500 million global ad account at Ogilvy in what at the time was the biggest-ever account switch. Ogilvy resigned the Microsoft Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. accounts to take on IBM.

 

IBM’s advertising and promotional expenses totaled $1.129 billion in 2025, down from $1.173 billion in 2024, according to its annual filing. It reported advertising and promotional spending of $977 million back in 1994; that figure included spending beyond the advertising account that landed at Ogilvy.

 

IBM adds to a run of media wins at Omnicom that also includes On and Delta Air Lines—retained after the holding company deployed a bespoke team to handle the account, as first reported by Ad Age’s Agency Review Tracker—and Raymour & Flanigan. It also recently lost the U.S. media account for SC Johnson to WPP, and its business with CVS Health, Bristol Myers Squibb and Gilead Sciences is facing review.

17432: On Automobiles & Autocracies In Adland.

 

The previous post on Acura racing out of the Omnicom lot underscored how Adland is a car wreck—and people working in the field regularly become crash victims.

 

Surely the Omnicom Overlords—and co-conspirators from the former IPG—identified conflicts that would result from the acquisition.

 

In this AI era, the collateral damage—in the form of lost livelihoods—must have been defined and accepted in advance. Right down to employee name, location, and demographics.

 

Managers were unlikely alerted, as they’d probably be casualties in the impending fiery-firing pileup.

 

For “leaders” like Omnicom Chairman-CEO-Pioneer of Divestiture John Wren, AI stands for Autocratic Indifference.

17431: How Omnicom Lost Its Car Keys To Acura.

 

Advertising Age spotlighted the latest escapade at Omnicom involving collateral damage from the acquisition of IPG, whereby the Acura creative account drove away from Omnicom and parked at independent White advertising agency RPA.

 

MullenLowe, formerly within the former IPG, had serviced Acura since 2013. The conflict pileup began when MullenLowe was absorbed by TBWA, the latter being a longtime partner of Nissan.

 

Omnicom sought to remedy matters via Corporate Cultural Collusion, offering other White advertising agencies like Deutsch. Acura wound up accelerating toward RPA, which has worked on parent brand Honda since 1987, and had already been handling Acura media duties since 2017.

 

Ad Age made no mention of the Omnicom drones who suddenly find themselves without a ride and may be forced to seek employment as Uber drivers.

 

How Omnicom tried—and failed—to keep hold of the Acura creative account

 

By Ewan Larkin

 

American Honda Motor Co. has moved Acura’s creative business to RPA, a longtime agency for the Honda brand and its media partner for both Honda and Acura, without a formal review.

 

The shift came after Omnicom couldn’t figure out where to park Acura within its expanded creative agency lineup. MullenLowe, which was part of Interpublic Group of Cos., had held the Acura creative account since 2013. After Omnicom acquired IPG in November, the holding company ran into an issue with MullenLowe’s creative relationship with the Honda-owned car brand.

 

Omnicom couldn’t place the Acura business with TBWA, which absorbed MullenLowe in the deal, because of that agency’s relationship with Nissan, which presented a conflict, according to people familiar with the matter. TBWA\Chiat\Day has worked with Nissan since it won the creative account in 1987, and that relationship has evolved into Nissan United, Omnicom’s bespoke creative and media team for the brand.

 

The situation follows the collapse of merger talks between Honda and Nissan in February 2025.

 

Instead, Omnicom proposed placing the account under IPG creative agency Deutsch, which has experience in the automotive sector from its time on the Volkswagen U.S. creative account, according to people close to the situation.

 

American Honda confirmed it had moved the Acura creative account to RPA, but pushed back on the idea that the shift stemmed from Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG.

 

“American Honda made a strategic decision to consolidate creative work for both the Honda and Acura brands within a single agency to better align with business objectives,” American Honda said in a statement to Ad Age. “Effective April 1, 2026, creative work will be led by our longstanding agency partner, RPA—which is already managing media buying for both brands.”

 

Asked about potential conflicts with Nissan and Omnicom’s plan to place the business with Deutsch, American Honda stated: “We would ask that you talk to Omnicom about its internal strategies.”

 

The auto company also thanked MullenLowe for its tenure: “We extend our sincere appreciation to the entire team at MullenLowe for 12 years of creative partnership and valuable contributions to the success of the Acura brand.”

 

The shift means Omnicom will move forward without an account MullenLowe had held since 2013, when Honda split its agency roster, keeping RPA on Honda creative but moving Acura creative to MullenLowe and media for both brands to MediaVest (now Spark Foundry). RPA took back media duties for both brands in 2017.

 

Omnicom, Nissan and RPA declined to comment on the account move. Deutsch deferred calls to comment to Honda.

 

Acura spent $128 million on U.S. measured media in 2025, down from $152 million in 2024, according to MediaRadar. The brand recently reported its best first-quarter performance in four years, with deliveries rising 5.2%.

 

Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG, which closed in November, has necessitated some reshuffling of accounts. For instance, McCann, not FCB (which has been folded into BBDO), is now leading the Kimberly-Clark Co. business.

 

Marketers don’t seem to be as concerned about conflicts these days—Omnicom itself works with a spate of automotive brands—but the Acura account move serves as a reminder that sensitivities still exist.

 

“Conflict is an ongoing challenge for clients and agencies,” said Greg Paull, president of global growth for consultancy Mediasense, adding that as holding companies have leaned harder into integrated services, managing those conflicts has only gotten harder.

 

When Omnicom announced its plan to acquire IPG, Chairman and CEO John Wren downplayed conflict concerns. “I’m not aware or threatened by any conflict as a result of us announcing that we’re joining forces,” he said on a December 2024 call with investors. He went on to acknowledge that some clients may ultimately move their business elsewhere because of the deal, which created the world’s largest agency company by revenue when it closed last year.

 

“Could it happen? Yes. Will it happen? Yes,” Wren previously said. “But I think people will be short-sighted in doing that.”

17430: Wendy’s + WPP Media = WTF.

Advertising Age reported Wendy’s handed its US media business to WPP Media after a closed review featuring WPP and Omnicom.

 

The scenario is so messed up, it’s difficult to deliver focused commentary. Hence, here’s the bullshit excreted with random bullet points:

 

• A closed review between WPP and Omnicom underscores the exclusive arena created by White holding companies. How was Omnicom even a contender, given its deep ties to Mickey D’s? Perhaps Omnicom promised to erect firewalls separating legacy Omnicom and IPG enterprises. Regardless, it all shows major accounts will be divvied up between a cabal of predominately Caucasian corporations.

 

• Wendy’s creative business has been handled for over 14 years by VML, a White advertising agency within the WPP Creative confederacy. The client claims the media assignment simplifies marketing efforts via an integrated model. On the flipside, Wendy’s admits sales suck and brand performance has steadily declined in recent years. In most cases, such results would rightly prompt a full account review. Yet WPP was rewarded for incompetence with added Wendy’s business.

 

• Ad Age positioned the win as evidence of WPP CEO Cindy Rose’s direct involvement on pitches. Okay, except as detailed above, this scheme really wasn’t a pitch. Additionally, WPP Media was invented by ex-WPP CEO Mark Read. So, it appears Rose is simply riding Read’s coattails, which were torn, tattered, and disintegrating rags.

 

• Wendy’s US CMO has been with the fast feeder for nearly 15 years; however, she was elevated to the role only three years ago. Most of her former professional personas involved serving as a financial analyst. Ad Age previously stated WPP victories under Rose leveraged low-balling maneuvers and price-cutting incentives. Need an explanation for Wendy’s decision to hire WPP Media? Do the math.

 

• In the end, it looks like Wendy’s ultimately chose the least stinky pile of dung.

 

Wendy’s is adding media to WPP’s remit—behind the decision

 

By Jon Springer and Ewan Larkin

 

Wendy’s has awarded its U.S. media business to WPP Media in a move it says will accelerate an ongoing turnaround and build on its longtime creative relationship with WPP’s VML.

 

The restaurant chain had long worked with Publicis Groupe’s Spark Foundry. That agency declined an invitation to defend and declined to comment. WPP and Omnicom participated in the closed review, said Lindsay Radkoski, Wendy’s U.S. chief marketing officer.

 

Wendy’s spent $319 million on measured media in 2025, down from $520 million in 2024, according to MediaRadar.

 

The shift comes as Wendy’s looks to reverse disappointing results, including U.S. same-restaurant sales that fell 5.2% last year, including an 11.3% plunge in the fourth quarter. To that end, the brand is rethinking how its marketing operates. It is moving away from siloed creative and media teams toward a more integrated model designed to speed up execution, reduce inefficiencies and better connect campaigns to sales, Radkoski said.

 

“Our business performance has not been where we want it to be. It’s not where the category’s been,” Radkoski said. She added that the review also reflects broader changes in how brands connect with consumers. “I really believe that the days are gone of the historical creative and media silos,” she said.

 

The brand and media agency are already cooperating in ways that are faster and more seamless than before. During this year’s March Madness college basketball tournament, Wendy’s was signing athletes to NIL deals in near real time as standout plays unfolded, turning them into social advocates for the brand. The brand is a longtime March Madness sponsor.

 

“In the past, who signs the influencer [the media agency or creative agency] led to some duplication and not being as efficient in the work as we need to be,” Radkoski said.

 

Tactics like this will help Wendy’s respond faster and produce more in-the-moment content that will change the way its social accounts feel, Radkoski said. The brand also plans to lean more into product-focused marketing and ongoing campaign storytelling.

 

Wendy’s longstanding creative relationship with VML

 

Although creative agencies are often in the crosshairs when brands attempt a turnaround, VML, Wendy’s creative partner of 14 years, isn’t going anywhere.

 

“We’re happy with that partnership,” Radkoski said. “Like any relationship, you have to have big conversations about how’s the team, how’s the business, how’s the talent, how’s our operating model, what do we need to adjust … We’re in a really healthy rhythm with the VML team.”

 

Bringing creative and media into the same ecosystem will help Wendy’s “build around VML,” Radkoski added.

 

WPP pitched a model in which Wendy’s retains control of its data through a private network, rather than relying on agency-owned data platforms, said Brian Lesser, CEO of WPP Media. The multiyear deal includes an outcomes-based component, linking a portion of WPP’s compensation to business results, he added.

 

Wendy’s is the second largest U.S. burger chain by sales but remains well behind McDonald’s and has struggled in recent years. Its CEO, Kirk Tanner, departed in July after just 18 months on the job to take the CEO job at Hershey Co. Ken Cook, Wendy’s chief financial officer, has served as interim CEO since.

 

In October, Wendy’s launched a comprehensive turnaround program called “Project Fresh” aimed at modernizing how consumers experience the brand. As part of that program it retained Creed UnCo, a consultancy led by former Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed, to sharpen how the brand targets customers.

 

Wendy’s marks another major media win for WPP under new CEO Cindy Rose, who took the reins Sept. 1. WPP has been battling declining revenue and a string of client losses as it works through a multiyear turnaround plan. But the company has recently shown signs of life in the pitch room, notching assignments with Jaguar Land Rover, The Estée Lauder Cos., SC Johnson, the U.K. government and Henkel.

 

Key to this momentum, as Ad Age previously reported, has been Rose’s increased presence in reviews, as well as a newfound sense of humility and selectivity. WPP still has a ways to go to right the ship, but a win with Wendy’s in the U.S.—where marketing consultants have said the agency group’s perception hasn’t fully recovered following years of internal reorganizations—is the kind of proof point it needs to start winning back advertiser confidence.

17429: SMH—American Crew Cuts Gray.

MediaPost spotlighted a new American Crew campaign for its Undetectable hair color product utilizing the tagline: Fly Under The Graydar.

 

Gray shaming is ageist, no?

 

This concept apparently flew under—or over—the cultural competence radar, going undetected by the responsible creative team.

 

Gray Ban: American Crew ‘Flys Under The Graydar’

 

By Fern Siegel

 

American Crew wants to eliminate gray hair.

 

That’s the premise behind its Undetectable, a product promoted with “Fly Under the Graydar” campaign, produced in-house. 

 

The campaign rolls out across digital, social and influencer channels this month. Additional creative is planned throughout the year.

 

The company is a big proponent of men’s grooming looking effortless. Because gray hair is easy to spot, the creative posits believable color as an essential standard, even as it pinpoints all the signs of obvious dye jobs.

 

Designed to blend seamlessly with existing grays, Undetectable hair color targets gray hairs and blends them with men’s natural hair color in five minutes.

 

Johnny Kazlausky, global marketing manager of American Crew, told Out To Launch: “Graydar was built on one simple truth — men don’t mind coloring their hair, they mind it being obvious. That tension has held the category back for years. So instead of focusing on coverage, we flipped the idea entirely. We created it as a cultural wink — this imagined radar for bad dye jobs — that everyone instinctively understands. In our world, the win isn’t being noticed, it’s flying under the Graydar.”

 

Undetectable Hair Color is available on Amazon Target and most major retailers. It’s also distributed in more than 30,000 salons, barbershops and authorized sellers in 50 countries.