17443: Burson, Ya Burnt…?

More About Advertising reported WPP plans to sell Burson, the PR behemoth created two years ago by blending Burson Cohn & Wolfe and Hill & Knowlton.

 

When birthing Burson in 2024, former WPP CEO Mark Read gushed, “Hill & Knowlton and BCW are two high-performing businesses with complementary strengths, shared ambitions, and many shared clients... The new agency will be the standard bearer as the most modern, strategic, technology-driven, full-service communications offer in the industry.”

 

Looks like Read’s words were puffery, hype, and/or bullshit.

 

Funny thing is, WPP could benefit from having onboard PR professionals to fabricate positive press releases now.

 

BCW on the block as WPP weighs exit from PR

 

By Stephen Foster

 

WPP is reportedly planning a sale of Burson, what’s left of its rambling array of PR businesses. Burson is an amalgam of BCW (Burson plus Cohn & Wolfe) and Hill & Knowlton, once the biggest in the UK.

 

In 2024 WPP sold a majority stake in FGS Global, its other big PR business, to private equity firm KKR which valued the financial-based firm at £1.3bn. Goldman Sach is lined up to handle any new sale.

 

PR let the side down in WPP’s latest accounts, revenue falling 6%. The business has changed dramatically with the rise of platforms like TikTok and Instagram and multifarious influencers taking away slices of budget. No one yet has put a price on BCW.

 

WPP founder and former boss Sir Martin Sorrell recently observed that PR had become rather a waste of time as a separate discipline, instead it should be seen as an aspect of advertising. WPP’s Ogilvy does, indeed, have a big PR operation. Whatever BCW makes, WPP must be hoping that any sale process reduces its debt, still hovering around the £3bn mark. Its current market value is “just” £2.69bn. 

17442: Buh-Bye, Bob Liodice.

 

Advertising Age spotlighted ANA CEO Bob Liodice, who will step down from his role at the end of 2026, prompting the search for a successor.

 

The ANA declared, “The next CEO will build on ANA’s scale and influence while advancing its role as the industry’s guide through the most significant shift in modern marketing—where artificial intelligence is reshaping how value is created, measured and sustained.”

 

Sounds like a perfect opportunity to innovate toward the inevitable.

 

That is, replace Liodice with an AI platform.

 

It’ll even offer nice alliteration and decent logo potential: ANA AI

 

ANA CEO Bob Liodice to step down

 

By E.J. Schultz

 

Bob Liodice will step down as CEO of the Association of National Advertisers at the end of the year, ending a more than two-decade run as leader of the nation’s largest marketing industry trade group.

 

The ANA has hired a search firm to find a new CEO. The organization declined to name the firm but confirmed the process will be overseen by ANA board chairman Dean Aragón, who is CEO and vice chair of Shell Brands International, and Procter & Gamble Co. Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard, the prior ANA chair.

 

“The next CEO will build on ANA’s scale and influence while advancing its role as the industry’s guide through the most significant shift in modern marketing—where artificial intelligence is reshaping how value is created, measured and sustained,” the ANA shared in a statement.

 

Liodice, 70, has been with the ANA for 31 years, serving as CEO since 2003. ANA credited him with growing the organization’s membership from 188 companies to more than 1,600, representing over 20,000 brands and 50,000 marketing professionals worldwide.

 

In an interview, Liodice pointed to recent work done to restructure the ANA into what he described as eight “mini associations” spanning specialty areas: brand, media, data, technology, measurement, talent, inclusive marketing and business-to-business marketing. “Each of these business teams are now focused in on what we consider to be the primary drivers of growth for our unique members,” he said.

 

With the reorganization complete, it is time “to turn over the ANA to the next generation of leadership, whoever that leader is, whether they be sourced internally, but most probably externally,” he added.

 

Fixing a ‘broken organization’

 

Liodice, who earlier in his career held marketing and sales roles at Grupo Televisa and Kraft General Foods, joined the ANA in 1995 as a senior VP. He stepped into the CEO role eight years later, succeeding John Sarsen. It was a tumultuous time, as ANA dealt with financial challenges, as well as criticism for letting media sponsors program its flagship conference that often resulted in thinly veiled sales pitches from the stage, Ad Age reported at the time.

 

“We stopped that,” Liodice recalled this week. “It was distasteful to many of our brand marketers.”

 

The ANA at the time was “somewhat of a broken organization,” he said. “We were a hairbreadth away from being out of business,” he added, recalling that when he took over in January 2003, the ANA had $28,000 in the bank and was “nearly bankrupt.”

 

The ANA, which is a tax-exempt nonprofit, reported $80.4 million in revenue for 2024, up from $65.6 million in 2023, according to its latest tax filings. Expenses grew to $82.2 million from $64.3 million. Liodice’s compensation was listed as $1.5 million as of the 2024 filing. The ANA employs about 200 full-time employees today, according to a representative.

 

Liodice said the group’s recent jump in expenses was partially due to costs related to its recent formation of Aquila, an ANA-backed cross-platform media measurement venture designed to help marketers reduce wasteful media spending by eliminating excess frequency.

 

Dealing with agency tensions

 

Improving the media supply chain for brands has been among Liodice’s key priorities. The ANA drew widespread attention in 2016 when it published a report prepared by investigative firm K2 alleging that media agencies were benefiting from non-transparent practices, including collecting cash rebates for media deals not disclosed to advertisers. While specific agency names were not listed, the report still drew complaints from agency players, including agency trade organization 4As, which at the time accused the ANA of taking a “one-sided” approach.

 

It was an example of how the ANA and 4As over the years have vacillated between being allies and opponents, depending on the issue.

 

Liodice, in this week’s interview, said the K2 report came at a “very challenging time.”

 

“Relationships were, in fact, damaged at that stage,” he said. But he suggested that tensions eased after Marla Kaplowitz took over as 4As president-CEO in 2017, succeeding Nancy Hill. “She and I got along famously, and we made it our joint commitment to repair whatever damage and work harmoniously together,” Liodice said.

 

Kaplowitz departed 4As in 2025 and was succeeded by Justin Thomas-Copeland.

 

Growing ANA membership and dealing with rising event competition

 

The ANA’s membership growth during Liodice’s tenure in part stemmed from the acquisition of five industry associations: Brand Activation Association, Business Marketing Association, Advertising Educational Foundation, Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association and the Data and Marketing Association. Those acquisitions are helping fuel attendance at the more than 60 conferences the ANA puts on each year, including its flagship Masters of Marketing conference held in Orlando every fall, which drew about 2,500 attendees in 2025.

 

But the ANA has had to deal with rising competition from newer events put on by other marketing and media organizations. That includes the Possible conference, held in the spring in Miami Beach, which last year drew 5,400 attendees (albeit with some complaints about top executives being secluded behind closed doors).

 

“We honestly feel like we don’t compete against Possible,” Liodice said. He suggested the ANA’s differentiation from that and other events is its singular focus on brand marketers. Its global CMO Growth Council, for example, “continues to expand and has about 500 active CMOs,” he said.

 

Aragón, in a statement, credited Liodice for expanding the ANA’s influence and playing a “central role in advancing the standards and practices that define modern marketing.”

 

As he steps away, Liodice said he is looking forward to getting “a little more balance in my life.” He estimated that he has been traveling 15 to 20 weeks each year, including this week, when he attended the ANA’s Masters of Data conference in San Diego.

 

Bob’s final message to CMOs

 

On stage, Liodice is known for asking presenters what message audience members should take back to the office with them on Mondays. Ad Age turned the tables on him, asking him for his final piece of advice for chief marketing officers:

 

“Drink in as much as you can drink in— and to let your common sense prevail,” he said. “We lose sight of the value of common sense and try to sometimes get overly prescriptive in making decisions. But I do believe a CMO has achieved that stature because of their not only their integrity and their ethics, but their ability to navigate these complexities with incredible common sense and decision making that has been honed over the years.”

17441: Dentsu Creative Transformation Lost In Translation…?

Advertising Age reported on leadership musical chairs playing at Dentsu Creative, an enterprise whose name has always been an oxymoron.

 

The latest moves include the US CEO and Global Brand President bailing out for another opportunity, and she’ll be semi-replaced by a Dentsu executive assuming an alternative title—CEO of the Americas—with different responsibilities.

 

The scenario presents an example of restructuring via deconstructing, resigning, and regurgitating.

 

Another noteworthy point is both executives mentioned above are not original creatives. That is, they never held true creative director titles or duties.

 

When Dentsu Creative launched in 2022, there was a Global Chief Creative Officer—although he quickly evacuated too.

 

Now, Dentsu Creative is regionally run by non-creative types, apparently supported by executives with creative backgrounds.

 

Dentsu Creative hypes itself with a tagline that reads: The Power of Transformative Creativity.

 

Okay, except variations on “transform” are among the top clichéd buzzwords in Adland. What’s more, the Dentsu Creative website doesn’t clearly explain its transformative offerings at all.

 

Dentsu Creative seems to be constantly transforming—in ways that are corporate versus creative.

 

Abbey Klaassen is leaving Dentsu Creative to join Tinuiti

 

By Ewan Larkin

 

Abbey Klaassen is leaving Dentsu Creative, where she most recently served as U.S. CEO and global brand president, to become CEO of performance marketing agency Tinuiti.

 

Klaassen succeeds Zach Morrison, who will step back from his day-to-day role after 21 years leading and building Tinuiti, which is backed by private equity firm New Mountain Capital and has roughly 1,200 employees.

 

Klaassen, a former Ad Age editor and associate publisher, rose quickly through the ranks at Dentsu. She held key positions at digital shop 360i before its consolidation into Dentsu Creative and subsequently served as president of the unit’s New York office. She was named Dentsu Creative U.S. CEO in 2023 and later added global oversight.

 

At Tinuiti, Klaassen will work to demonstrate how the agency is more than a performance shop. Tinuiti has expanded beyond its search-and-social roots into full-funnel work, including buying 2026 Super Bowl spots for brands such as Instacart and Liquid I.V., according to an agency statement. Tinuiti was also recently named full-funnel media agency of record for children’s apparel company Carter’s Inc., working across the U.S. and Canada. It nabbed that account from Stagwell’s Assembly, a sign that Tinuiti is competing not just against performance agencies like Wpromote.

 

Tinuiti has also named Bryan Wiener chairman of its board. He previously served as CEO of Publicis Groupe-owned digital commerce analytics firm Profitero+ and recently launched 37Arc, an AI firm focused on chief marketing officers. Wiener will work closely with Klaassen, with whom he overlapped during his time as chairman of 360i.

 

Klaassen’s departure comes as Dentsu deals with headwinds. The Japanese agency group in March appointed Takeshi Sano as global CEO, part of a broader reset after it explored selling its struggling international business—such a deal is now off the table—and reported its worst annual loss last year. Dentsu Creative has shed some lucrative accounts in recent years, including work with Subway and American Express, but recently notched a win with Farmers Insurance.

 

:::::

 

How Dentsu Creative is rethinking its US leadership

 

By Ewan Larkin

 

Dentsu Creative is not directly replacing Abbey Klaassen, its U.S. CEO and global brand president, who is leaving to become CEO of performance marketing agency Tinuiti. Instead, the agency is restructuring the role, naming Dentsu veteran Phil Gaughran CEO of the Americas and expanding the position beyond the U.S.

 

Gaughran assumes the role after serving as president, global creative product, growth and strategy at Dentsu. Global responsibilities previously held by Klaassen will be supported by Yasuharu Sasaki, Dentsu’s global chief creative officer, along with a group of existing leaders across strategy, growth and creative.

 

Inside the move and Dentsu Creative’s strategy

 

A strategist by trade, Gaughran has spent 16 years with Dentsu, including more than a decade at Dentsumcgarrybowen and in corporate strategy roles. “He does some of his best work on a barstool, sharing a pint and a point of view towards solving some of the world’s problems,” his bio on Dentsu’s website reads.

 

Gaughran’s new role mirrors that of Beth Ann Kaminkow, who in March was named Dentsu’s Americas CEO after previously only leading North America. (Kaminkow has also added the global chief client officer title.) The restructure is designed to align leadership across the region and simplify how Dentsu Creative serves clients, while better connecting creative capabilities in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.

 

“We often have U.S.-based clients that extend into Canada and are either looking at Brazil or other high-profile markets, or they want a through line where everything from our offshoring capabilities, to our technology, to what we provide on the ground is all linked up,” Gaughran said in an interview alongside Kaminkow.

 

Gaughran’s business and client experience made him best suited for the position, said Kaminkow, adding that he has also been active in new business pitches, including Adobe’s creative review. The move also “felt like an obvious choice to create consistency with clients and continuity of service,” said Kaminkow, who joined Dentsu from WPP’s VML.

 

Gaughran’s appointment comes as Dentsu deals with headwinds. The Japanese agency group in March appointed Takeshi Sano as global CEO, part of a broader reset after it explored selling its struggling international business—such a deal is now off the table—and reported its worst annual loss last year.

 

Despite some high-profile client losses over the past year, including work with Subway, T-Mobile and American Express, Kaminkow and Gaughran stressed that Dentsu Creative is “healthy” and improving. The agency recently notched a win with Farmers Insurance, which had been with incumbent RPA since 2010.

 

Gaughran described the past few years as something of a building phase, focused on developing AI-enabled systems and tools internally, and said Dentsu Creative is now ready to “externalize” that work. Kaminkow pointed to a win with i-Health, led by Dentsu X with support from Dentsu Creative, as early evidence of tighter collaboration between media and creative.

 

“We are back on the up,” Gaughran said of Dentsu Creative.

 

The agency isn’t done making moves. Gaughran and Kaminkow indicated more senior hires are on the way, including creative talent.

 

“We feel like we still have opportunity to strengthen the team,” Kaminkow said. 

17440: ICYMI FTC VS HOLDCO WTF.

MediaPost reported Dentsu, Publicis Groupe, and WPP reached agreements with the Federal Trade Commission to stop engaging in “unlawful collusion that imposed uniform standards on brand safety.”

 

Omnicom and IPG previously reached similar agreements with the FTC during regulatory approval of Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG.

 

The holding companies are not prohibited from continuing to engage in Corporate Cultural Collusion and/or concerted hiring practices that maintain exclusivity.

 

Indeed, the FTC complaints are arguably connected to anti-Woke and anti-DEIBA+ political platforms.

 

FTC: Dentsu, Publicis, WPP Agree To Discontinue ‘Brand Safety’ Standards

 

By Wendy Davis, Joe Mandese

 

The Federal Trade Commission this morning announced agreements with three big agency holding companies — Dentsu, Publicis and WPP — to discontinue what the FTC described as “unlawful collusion that imposed uniform standards on brand safety.”

 

Citing previous agreements by Interpublic and Omnicom as part of the FTC’s regulatory approval of their merger late last year, the federal agency said Dentsu, Publicis and WPP have also agreed to a proposed order that “will stop the alleged coordinated conduct and prevent similar conduct from occurring in the future.”

 

“WPP Media confirms that it has reached agreement on a mutually acceptable consent order with the FTC on a no admit nor deny basis,” WPP Media said in a statement, adding, “We are pleased to finalize this agreement with the FTC which reflects our existing and ongoing commitment to provide our clients with unbiased advice as they decide where to place their media.”

 

“The ad agencies’ brand-safety conspiracy turned competition in the market for ad-buying services on its head,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement, adding, “The antitrust laws guarantee participation in a market free from conduct, such as economic boycotts, that distort the fundamental competitive pressures that promote lower prices, higher quality products and increased innovation.”

 

“As we explain in our complaint, the brand-safety agreement limited competition in the market for ad-buying services and deprived advertisers of the benefits of differentiated brand-safety standards that could be tailored to their unique advertising inventory,” he continued. “This unlawful collusion not only damaged our marketplace, but also distorted the marketplace of ideas by discriminating against speech and ideas that fell below the unlawfully agreed-upon floor. The proposed order remedies the dangers inherent to collusive practices and restores competition to the digital news ecosystem.”

 

The FTC cites all of the named holdco’s utilization of data from “firms like NewsGuard and Global Disinformation Index” to “promote the demonetization of disfavored political viewpoints. In a competitive market, ad agencies compete for advertisers’ business by offering brand-safety tools that provide the best quality at the lowest cost. The brand safety agreement displaced competition by insulating the ad agencies from these competitive conditions, according to the complaint.”

 

The FTC complaint also alleged the holdcos “operated through their trade associations — specifically, the World Federation of Advertisers’ Global Alliance for Responsible Media (“GARM”) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies’ Advertiser Protection Bureau (“APB”) — to establish their common brand-safety standards. Under the agencies’ brand-safety agreement, websites that included so-called “misinformation” were deemed to fall below the brand safety floor and thus risked becoming categorically ineligible for advertising revenue.”

 

The settlement still needs to be approved by a federal judge. 

17439: Getting Goofy On Disney Layoffs.

Adweek reported marketing restructuring at Disney prompted layoffs confirmed via a companywide memo from the CEO.

 

The CEO missed a perfect opportunity to open the announcement with, “Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s out of work you’ll go.”

 

Disney CEO Sends Memo Confirming Layoffs 

 

Disney is expected to lay off as many as 1,000 employees

 

By Bill Bradley

 

Following its marketing restructure, Disney is carrying out layoffs, its CEO confirmed.

 

Today, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro sent a memo to employees confirming layoffs were being carried out this week, saying that impacted employees were being notified. As the company looks to streamline operations, it is expected to lay off up to 1,000 employees.

 

The layoffs follow Disney’s announcement in January that it was restructuring its marketing divisions under Asad Ayaz, the company’s first chief marketing and brand officer. The restructure was aimed at aligning the company’s marketing teams more closely across the business.

 

Beyond marketing, the company’s studios and TV businesses, ESPN, products and tech, and corporate functions will also be affected, according to reports.

 

“I know this is hard. Those that will be leaving us have done meaningful work here and care deeply about this company. These decisions are not a reflection of their contributions, or of the overall strength of the company,” D’Amaro said in the memo. “Rather, they reflect our continual evaluation of how to more effectively manage our resources and reinvest in our businesses.”

 

Despite the layoffs, D’Amaro said he remained “optimistic” about where the company is headed.

 

“I’m deeply grateful for all of your contributions and for the dedication, professionalism, and care you bring to your work each day. Even in challenging moments, you continue to demonstrate what makes Disney so special,” D’Amaro said.

 

This is the first large-scale layoff under D’Amaro. It also reflects an ongoing trend in the entertainment industry, with companies such as Sony and CBS recently announcing cuts.

 

See the full memo below:

 

Dear Fellow Employees & Cast Members,

 

We have experienced a great deal of change these last few years, both at the company and across our industries. Knowing firsthand how these moments can bring uncertainty, I want to be open about some difficult news that will be communicated this week. 

 

In January, we announced our unified enterprise marketing and brand organization, designed to serve consumers in an even more connected way. Over the past several months, we have looked at ways in which we can streamline our operations in various parts of the company to ensure we deliver the world-class creativity and innovation our fans value and expect from Disney. Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs. As a result, we will be eliminating roles in some parts of the company and have begun notifying impacted employees. 

 

I know this is hard. Those that will be leaving us have done meaningful work here and care deeply about this company. These decisions are not a reflection of their contributions, or of the overall strength of the company. Rather, they reflect our continual evaluation of how to more effectively manage our resources and reinvest in our businesses. 

 

Compassion and respect remain at the heart of our company. As we move forward through this transition, our priority is to support those impacted and help each person navigate what comes next with resources, guidance, and direct support. 

 

Despite these difficult decisions, I remain optimistic about where we’re headed as a company. I’m deeply grateful for all of your contributions and for the dedication, professionalism, and care you bring to your work each day. Even in challenging moments, you continue to demonstrate what makes Disney so special.

 

Josh 

17438: FYI WPP CTO WTF ETC.

The previous post spotlighting the Adweek report on WPP’s newish Chief Transformation Officer didn’t mention an important point.

 

Yes, the CTO formerly worked in a similar role for The Estée Lauder Companies.

 

In February 2026, Advertising Age reported The Estée Lauder Companies named WPP as global White media agency.

 

So, it looks like WPP CEO Cindy Rose is landing new clients and poaching talent from them too.

17437: FYI WPP CPO WTF.

 

Adweek reported WPP hired a White man as Chief People Officer, leapfrogging a White woman elevated to the same role less than a year ago, before WPP CEO Cindy Rose arrived.

 

The latest appointment underscores how the White holding company—er, White single operating company—is a flaming dumpster.

 

For starters, Rose once acknowledged constant corporate change can adversely affect employee morale and create a sense of burnout. Yet she is igniting matters by reshuffling the role explicitly intended to address such concerns…?!

 

Additionally, Rose admitted a key charge involved identifying and eliminating redundancies throughout the organization. Yet she has literally created a redundancy by hiring a new CPO and retaining the semi-new CPO.

 

Also, the CPO appointed in 2025 has extensive experience, including formerly serving as CPO for WPP Media and Global Chief Talent Officer for Ogilvy. So, it looks like Rose is actively replacing legacy WPP executives with outsiders—which seems to display old-school house cleaning arrogance.

 

Finally, filling the CPO position with a White man appears to confirm DEIBA+ is officially dead at WPP—and Adland.

 

PS, the new CPO previously worked at Lego, which should come in handy since he must now assemble something from many disparate pieces.

 

WPP Hires Ex-Burberry and Lego Exec Mark Taylor as Chief People Officer 

 

Marie-Claire Barker will move into a performance and culture-focused role

 

By Rebecca Stewart

 

WPP has tapped Mark Taylor as its new chief people officer (CPO), ADWEEK has learned.

 

The exec was most recently chief people advisor at Lego, where he worked from 2017 until 2024 before becoming an independent people consultant to brands.

 

In an internal memo viewed by ADWEEK, WPP chief executive (CEO) Cindy Rose said Taylor would help WPP build the talent strategy and capabilities to deliver on its three-year “Elevate 28” turnaround plan.

 

“[Mark] has deep expertise in enterprise-wide transformation and understands how to drive the cultural shifts required to win,” Rose wrote to employees.

 

He will sit on WPP’s executive committee, bringing with him decades of experience working in the pharmaceutical, CPG, retail, and digital entertainment sectors. He was the CPO at British fashion giant Burberry for nine years and steered the people division of Candy Crush maker King from 2015 to 2017, before joining Lego.

 

As part of his appointment, Marie-Claire Barker, who took on the CPO remit for WPP in May 2025 before Rose joined, will now report into Taylor in a more specialist role as CPO, performance and culture.

 

“In this role, she will focus on shaping our evolving culture, elevating our employee experience, and embedding the high-performance mindset that winning teams embrace,” said Rose in her memo.

 

She added: “This powerful leadership combination gives me incredible confidence in our ability to modernize our People function at pace and make WPP the best place to build a career in our industry.”

 

At the time of writing, WPP did not respond to ADWEEK’s request for comment on the reshuffle.

 

Another brand-side hire from WPP

 

Taylor’s hire marks the second big leadership announcement from former Microsoft exec Rose in the space of a week.

 

On April 10, the business revealed that Anne-Isabelle Choueiri would be joining from The Estée Lauder Companies as chief transformation officer (CTO).

 

Both appointments come as WPP orchestrates a turnaround strategy designed to return it to growth following an 8.1% year-on-year revenue decline in Q4.

 

The reset plan includes a commitment to deliver annual cost savings of $676 million (£500 million), and intends to stabilize WPP in 2026, build momentum in 2027, and return it to growth from 2028 onwards. 

 

Having joined just as WPP’s share price hit a 16-year low in September 2025, Rose has already started gaining some new business momentum.

 

Since her arrival, wins have included Jaguar Land Rover, The Estée Lauder Cos., SC Johnson, and Kenvue. In Q1 2026, WPP topped JP Morgan’s new business rankings, pulling in an estimated $820 million in deals, followed by Publicis’ at $700m.

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.