17647: WPP CEO Cindy Rose, Like Her Predecessor, Is Full Of Shit.

 

More About Advertising noted how WPP CEO Cindy Rose responded to Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun seeing a trend whereby major brands assign business to the top White holding companies sans traditional pitches.

“What’s really important to me is that my clients fully understand the implications of the decisions they’re making. These are really high-stakes decisions with material business consequences and they deserve careful consideration,” said Rose. “I don’t think we do ourselves any favours, as an industry of professionals, by encouraging clients to bypass proper due diligence.”

Um, wasn’t WPP Production recently exposed for trying to skirt around the triple-bidding process by presenting clients with multiple bids from White production sources within the global flaming dumpster network?

And don’t forget the corrupt sneakiness and criminal shenanigans at WPP Media.

Rose is clearly refining her skills as a world-class bullshit artist, mirroring predecessor Mark Read.

WPP’s Rose bites back at Publicis

By Stephen Foster

Is a scrap brewing between WPP’s Cindy Rose (below) and master-of-all-he surveys Arthur Sadoun at Publicis?

Sadoun has made much of Publicis winning major business without a pitch, saying clients shouldn’t waste their time on big pitches but take a good [look] at one agency group (chiefly his of course) as, these days there are only three contenders, Publicis, Omnicom and WPP. Pepsico is the most recent example of such a switch, with Omnicom on the receiving end.

WPP has lost out to a degree and Rose said in her earnings call yesterday: “What’s really important to me is that my clients fully understand the implications of the decisions they’re making. These are really high-stakes decisions with material business consequences and they deserve careful consideration.

“I don’t think we do ourselves any favours, as an industry of professionals, by encouraging clients to bypass proper due diligence.”

She then rather undermined her position by saying, apropos Coca-Cola’s US media (which Publicis pinched from WPP without a pitch, it then effectively resigned it to take on Pepsico): “We won the rest of the world and we have a huge amount of work to do in a very short period of time. I had people, many, many people, pitching for many, many, many weeks over the summer.

“I was with them myself in London and Shanghai and Mexico City and we made a tough call between spending another six weeks pitching for North America versus delivering against what we had already won.

“It was a fine judgment call we made and it’s as simple as that really.” Which rather makes Sadoun’s point.

But it used to be fun when the holding company bosses routinely took a pop at each other, led by WPP’s then boss Sir Martin Sorrell (who could start a fight alone in a darkened room.) Publicis’ then boss Maurice Levy used to rise to the challenge. Sorrell’s successor Mark Read was low-key, allowing Sadoun at Publicis to make the running (Omnicom’s John Wren usually stays above the fray in his lordly American way.)

Is it time for gloves off?

17635: On Changing C-Suites In Adland.

 

More About Advertising wondered about the adverse effects of C-suite revolving doors, musical chairs, and restructuring redundancy RIFs.

Management expert Peter F. Drucker recognized the leadership challenge of striking a balance between change and continuity.

White holding companies are striking out in that area.

Is the spate of senior hires having the right effect?

By Emma Hall

WPP has very recently promoted media boss Adam Gerhart to global chief client officer and appointed Veriça Djurdjevic (ex-Channel 4 and PHD) as UK Media’s chief client officer, while Tyler Turnbull is the new head of WPP Creative. Over at MSQ, Stagwell EMEA CEO Peter Reid has joined as group CEO.

Much is made of these senior hires, always positioned as being an important step for clients, helping to deliver growth, and being part of a grand plan á la WPP CEO Cindy Rose’s “Elevate 28”. But word from inside the agencies is that clients are getting mightily fed up with losing the people they trust and work with every day as redundancies deplete teams and drain morale.

When agencies are facing so much change, it makes sense to make big changes around structure and staffing – and sometimes there are clear gaps to fill. But it’s less logical to lose sight of the employees who are the glue of agency life.

17624: Cooking A Heaping Helping Of Lame Duck.

More About Advertising presented yet another take on the impending exit of VML Global CEO-WPP Creative CEO Jon Cook, even comparing the move to Omnicom Advertising Group CEO Troy Ruhanen relinquishing his position.

Okay, except Ruhanen is an established, respected, and decorated leader succeeded by an established, respected, and decorated leader. Cook and his crony, not so much.

Cook remarked, “I look forward to working closely with Cindy (Rose, CEO) and the WPP and VML leadership teams over the coming months to execute a thoughtful transition.”

Huh? Cook isn’t scheduled to leave the building until March 2027—nearly six months away. Cook’s thoughtful transition will take roughly twice as long as his hasty decision to skedaddle.

Then again, former WPP CEO Mark Read made a similar statement about thoughtfully transitioning before being rapidly replaced by Cindy Rose.

Cook is essentially a lame duck—maybe he should duck out pronto.

VML’s Cook quits as WPP Creative boss

By Stephen Foster

When any industry goes through a process of upheaval – especially when it involves heavy redundancies – it’s right to focus on the troops as they bear the cost, often losing their jobs.

But being one of the managers charged with overseeing such upheavals can’t be much fun unless terminating people rocks your boat.

It’s interesting that VML’s Jon Cook is following hard on the heels of Omnicom Advertising Group’s Troy Ruhanen in stepping down from one of the key jobs as the industry is changing: Ruhanen, who’s being replaced by BBDO’s Andrew Robertson, masterminded (if that’s the right word) the merger of FCB into BBDO and demise of DDB as Omnicom bought IPG; Cook had the even bigger job of merging his VML with WPP’s JWT, Wunderman and Y&R to create what was the world’s biggest creative agency. At the time few people on this side of the Atlantic knew what VML was. To say that executives at the other agencies were surprised is a huge understatement.

Yet Cook, who’s being succeeded by another lifer at the one-time Kansas City digital agency, Eric Campbell, is reckoned to have done a pretty good job, eventually overseeing Ogilvy, Grey, Burson, AKQA, Landor and Design Bridge & Partners as head of the recently-minted WPP Creative. We wait to see if this really will become one company (which would be one way to get rid of even more people.)

Cook says: “This has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever made in my life. But after three decades of pouring everything I have into this agency and all of WPP, it is time to build something new. VML and WPP Creative are operating from positions of tremendous strength and this is the right moment for other voices to lead. I am immensely proud of our teams, the iconic work we produce with our clients and the one-of-a-kind culture we have built. I look forward to working closely with Cindy (Rose, CEO) and the WPP and VML leadership teams over the coming months to execute a thoughtful transition.”

The job facing the head of any creative agency these days is finding enough work at the right price to keep everyone gainfully employed. This is particularly tough for many ad folk who, incorrigible optimists that they are, think mainly of growth and, gleefully, of poaching talent from their rivals as they grow.

17619: WFA, WPP, WTF.

 

More About Advertising spotlighted a World Federation of Advertisers report showing the use of labor-based models has significantly declined over the past 15 years, while outcome-based remuneration continues to dramatically rise.

In short, WPP is not doing anything innovative with payment schemes; rather, the single White operating company has been slow in adapting to industry reality.

The global flaming dumpster is an outdated outhouse.

More clients move to payment by results – WFA

A new report by the World Federation of Advertisers and Agency Mania Solutions reveals that the use of labour-based models has fallen dramatically over the last 15 years dropping from 54% in 2011 to 17% today, with a significant drop from 33% in 2022 when the research was last carried out. Over the last decade and a half, fixed-fee/output models have risen from 20% to 35% and labour-plus-performance models have more than doubled, from 9% to 23%.

Performance-based fees show the strongest momentum, with 58% expecting increased use, followed by value-based models at 43% and fixed-fee or output-based approaches at 36%. By contrast, 42% anticipate further reducing labour-plus-performance arrangements, while commission models also face more contraction than growth.

How Brands Define, Scope and Reward Agency Work also predicts that AI will accelerate this process, given that the technology allows agencies to do more, faster. Brands, however, are still catching up, with only 20% already evolving their commercial models in response to AI, although 61% intend to.

The findings are based on responses of 69 different multinational companies, representing 6 different industry sectors and a collective global marketing spend of $147 billion. Most (71%) respondents were in a global marketing procurement role.

“Clients ultimately care about the quality, impact and performance of the work – not how many people or hours were required to produce it. AI is accelerating this transition by enabling agencies to complete many activities faster, making time an increasingly weak proxy for value,” says Laura Forcetti, Director of Global Marketing, Sourcing and Director Marketing Services, Asia Pacific at WFA. “The growth of hybrid approaches also shows that no single model suits every discipline or assignment. The future of agency compensation is not paying for effort, it is rewarding valuable work, delivered effectively.”

17617: On The White House & White Advertising Agencies, Part 11.

 

More About Advertising reported President Donald J. Trump aired a self-promotional video, prompting accusations that government funds were used to pay for a campaign advertisement.

The White House defended the video with a variety of legal and arguably looney responses.

It appears Trump is like the client—or White advertising agency—who greenlights executions without running concepts through the legal department.

Then again, maybe Trump is campaigning for a White Man Of The Year repeat.

Trump accused of using government funds for campaign advert

By Emma Hall

Only six weeks before the US midterm elections, President Trump has aired an ad providing a highlight reel of his second term and a promise that America will never be a communist country. The soundtrack repeats the words “Love me” over and over.

The controversial bit comes with the text overlay, “Paid for by the US government,” coupled with the timing – six weeks ahead of the critical mid-term elections. The White House denies using government funds to pay for a campaign ad, claiming that the work is a celebration of Trump and acts “as a reminder for Americans to love their country and know why it’s worth defending – at home, at the border, and abroad.”

The sped-up clips apparently include some of Trump’s signature moments like the US military raid on Venezuela, hosting a state dinner for Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, and accepting the FIFA peace prize, and pardoning a turkey.

The White House claims the ad is not campaigning and that “patriotism isn’t partisan,” but here he is boasting about his second-term achievements including tax cuts, manufacturing growth, and improved law and order. The broadcast version also features Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, saying “he is the toughest, most resilient human being I have ever met in my life.”

Albanian-American singer JMSN, who wrote and performed the song “Love me,” says he is “looking at lawyers” due to the unauthorised use of his work.

Further defence from the White House references Obama’s ads to promote Obamacare and Biden’s “We can do this” public health campaign. As Trump’s second term unfolds, it looks increasingly like he’s taking an ongoing trajectory to its logical extreme – and no one can stop him.

17605: On Exposing Ugliness Of PepsiCo Pageantry.

 

More About Advertising published a lengthy perspective titled, “Ad agency pitch theatre is not a sport, but a beauty contest,” providing a probing analysis of PepsiCo global media duties shifting from Omnicom to Publicis Groupe.

The title poses two inherent flaws.

First, the PepsiCo business was awarded sans pitch. To play off the content concept, a winner was crowned without having to appear in the swimsuit competition—or any other pageant event. Indeed, it’s unclear how the decision was made, rendering the entire affair suspicious and potentially scandalous.

Second, the opinion piece was illustrated by the AI-generated image depicted above. A more accurate cartoon would have presented three Old White Guys, an Asian man, and a White woman. It’s an exclusive—and not very pretty—spectacle.

17604: Continuing Cola Wars Craziness.

 

More About Advertising opined on Ogilvy scoring a Coca-Cola European football project via a pitch featuring WPP Open X (presumably led by Ogilvy), Publicis’ Le Pub, Studio.One (led by former AKQA CEO Ajaz Ahmed), and Uncommon Creative Studio (co-founded by former Grey London Chairman and CCO Nils Leonard).

Was the pitch underway before Publicis Groupe landed PepsiCo global media duties?

Given WPP Open X was invented to solely serve Coke, facing competition from outsider enterprises does not seem to reflect favorably on the single White operating company and its offerings.

The scenario also indicates an industry shift, whereby reviews for major chunks of business are not necessarily closed affairs, exclusive privileges available only to a handful of White holding companies. Although it still involves cronyism and entitled relationships.

In the end, the self-proclaimed Trusted Growth Partner For The World’s Leading Brands hasn’t gained trust, realized growth, or been a partner for any brand in the world—and the global flaming dumpster now competes against ex-employees for assignments.

Coke goes great with humble pie.

More Coke pitches: this time Ogilvy’s on top

By Stephen Foster

They do love their pitches at Coca-Cola despite the creative part of the giant account supposedly safely harboured at WPP. This time it’s a WPP team led by Ogilvy reportedly winning a European football brief in a pitch against Publicis’ Le Pub (which handles Heineken), Ajaz Ahmed’s new Studio.One and Uncommon Creative Studio (there are nearly as many studios these days as pitches.)

Coke has invested heavily in football with some lively campaigns although this seems to be the first time it’s been a separate project. Coca-Cola is an official sponsor of the Premier League in the UK.

Nobody’s saying anything on the record but it’s an interesting pitch. Studio.One, the new creative company formed by former AKQA boss Ajaz Ahmed has already picked up a Christmas assignment from Coke. Ogilvy has won (or retained) a number of Coke assignments recently and seems to be the lead agency on WPP Open X work. Must be frustrating, not to say exhausting, having to keep repeating yourself though.

17576: Does Coca-Cola & WPP Open X Create An Exclusive Hilltop?

   

More About Advertising panned a Coca-Cola advertisement created by WPP Open X featuring a Muslim family and Cat Stevens (aka Yusuf Islam) soundtrack.

The work demonstrates WPP Open X is consistently capable of generating lame creative—and probably preventing multicultural marketing practitioners from gaining opportunities to collect crumbs.

MAA Ad of the week: Coca-Cola from WPP Open X

By Stephen Foster

Coca-Cola is, or should be, the gold standard for advertising although every so often it slips off its perch. Its most famous efforts have encapsulated Americana in a way that would make even Donald Trump blush, “I’d like to teach the world to sing.”

Now, with WPP Open X, (have to make sure you don’t close the gap with the X) it’s gone well and truly global, Cat Stevens, alias Yusuf Islam, on vocals and a clearly Muslim family sitting down to enjoy dinner and with a gallon or so of Coke. Doesn’t look right somehow.

But where’s the magic, that sprinkling of stardust that got “I’d like to teach…” into cynical old Don Draper’s head? Too many boxes to tick maybe.

17558: Bye-Bye, AI…?

 

More About Advertising published an Op-Ed titled, “Why don’t we just forget about AI?”

Um, because most White holding companies and White advertising agencies would have nothing to hype if everyone forgot about AI, creating a chorus of crickets.

The acronym should be revised to pose this question: “Why don’t we just forget about Advertising Industry?”

Why don’t we just forget about AI?

By Stephen Foster

Later this week Cindy Rose, a former Microsoft executive, will doubtless tie herself in knots trying to explain how “agentic” deals with the likes of Google and Meta (would you join them for dinner without the benefit of a Roman-style taster?) will help realise WPP’s ‘Elevate28’ transformation.

WPP has certainly gone all-out for Artificial Intelligence, firstly under former boss Mark Read and now under Rose although it’s far from clear how it can help an agency group apart from cheaper production. Brandtech’s David Jones hit the nail squarely on the head the other week when he told the FT: “We like to believe that every person who creates is brilliant, but if you watch the basketball [on television] this week, most of the ads are terrible…95 per cent of people don’t produce much that’s creative or original. So why not do that with fast, efficient machines and let the geniuses handle the other 5 per cent?”

So why don’t agencies concentrate on the clients who do care about impactful communications (Adidas being a case in point as it bunged money into the World Cup only to frighten Wall Street’s algo-driven horses) and leave the AI wizards to squander billions on yet more ways to get bots to talk to bots? Even the IAB acknowledges that such ads gain only the most fleeting attention.

Agencies through their history have gone careering away after the latest fashion (AI now obviously but also influencers or creators as they like to be known) with no real evidence that it delivers better results than ads created by people and placed by people in media that people actually consume?

AI has become a vast circular industry where the chip makers fund the companies who buy their products. Sooner or later the musical chairs will stop and there’ll be a financial crash that makes 2008 look like a practice run. That’s if these fiendish AI inventions don’t keep escaping and bring the whole world crashing down anyway.

Agencies and sensible advertisers should steer clear.

17539: WPP CPO WTF.

More About Advertising reported on impending layoffs at WPP, spotlighting the new WPP Media Chief People Officer, who will likely be among key players executing the latest RIF.

 

The content closed by asking: Is there a People job in [Adland] that doesn’t really mean less people?

 

That’s a good question, prompting a Google search to define the C-suite function. According to M&A Executive Search, CPO responsibilities include:

 

• Shaping organizational culture and employee experience

 

• Developing DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) programs

 

• Creating leadership development initiatives

 

• Driving employee engagement strategies

 

• Aligning the workforce with the company vision and values

 

• Building talent acquisition competitive advantages

 

• Fostering a sense of purpose and belonging

 

Okay, except no way can a new CPO shape organizational culture and employee experience at a global flaming dumpster that is burning out of control.

 

DEIBA+ programs have already been abandoned.

 

Leadership development cannot commence until after dealing with honcho redundancies, resignations, and restructurings.

 

Employee engagement strategies likely involve mandated rah-rah events.

 

Expressing the company vision and values won’t happen before WPP CEO Cindy Rose hatches and articulates the grand scheme. For now, it’s chirping crickets.

 

Talent acquisition competitive advantages are trumped by talent termination.

 

Sense of purpose and belonging? Nonsense of purpose and belonging would be a more appropriate term.

 

In short, given WPP’s current death-spiraling direction, the CPO role could be handled via AI—or eliminated entirely.

 

WPP sets sail for another round of job cuts

 

By Stephen Foster

 

WPP is reportedly embarking on another round of job cuts and newly-hired chief people officer at WPP Media Darren Minshall looks as though he’s been hired to lead the charge. Or maybe retreat. WPP Media employs about 40,000 people.

 

Like all such execs Minshall [above], who’s worked at numerous companies including, back in the day, Havas and MullenLowe, says the right things including “AI isn’t the hard part. Leading people through it is” and “AI should improve work, not blindly replace it” which may reassure some WPP Media folk although the embattled holding company, first under Mark Read and now under Cindy Rose, has made no secret that it sees AI as the secret sauce to put it back on the road to growth.

 

So will Minshall be the grim reaper, on the lines of George Clooney in the movie Up in the Air, where he plays corporate downsizer Ryan Bingham or someone to bring a little balance to the seemingly AI-obsessed holding company?

 

WPP is now divided into creative, media, production and commerce and most people expect its creative agencies to bear the brunt of tech-driven changes. When JWT, Y&R and Wunderman were lumped together with VML it was said to be the biggest creative agency in the world with about 30,000 people. WPP also has Ogilvy of course, which seems to be staying above the fray.

 

But the old GroupM media operation comprising EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and Wavemaker was pretty substantial and numerous too and, although its fortunes have recovered to a degree, it has still to return to winning ways for the world’s really big media accounts, most of which are at Publicis with some others at Omnicom.

 

Is there a People job in adland that doesn’t really mean less people?

17534: FYI ICYMI IPA BS.

More About Advertising spotlighted a survey from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) showing clients want White advertising agencies to “stretch, grow, and challenge” them.

 

Yeah, right. Regardless of anything the collected data might claim, here’s a clear interpretation of the client requests based on reality:

 

STRETCH insufficient budgets

 

GROW timelines via scope creep

 

CHALLENGE assumptions and briefs—but execute to assumptions and briefs anyway

 

Clients want agencies to ‘stretch, grow and challenge’ them says IPA

 

By Emma Hall

 

The IPA has got some advice for agencies about what clients value from agencies, and it doesn’t seem to be a “core creative idea,” which was joint 10^th on the list with 73% saying it’s important. AI, however, is right at the top, with 90% of marketers saying AI skills are either critical or very important in both creative and media agencies.

 

Out of 200 clients surveyed, 83% want “stretch and growth thinking,” but only 48% think agencies are delivering it. There was also a gap between the clients who wanted to have their briefs and assumptions challenged (77%) and the 43% who said their agencies dare to do this.

 

What else are marketers looking for? These clients were not admitting to prioritising faster and cheaper; instead say they want strategic expertise (80%), quality production (83%) and specialist knowledge of key channels (79%). Conversely the growth of in-housing is, they said, about cost, speed, control and integration.

 

When it comes to remuneration, agencies will be pleased to hear that two thirds of clients think they are undervaluing themselves. The top preferred alternative (at 54%) is an outcome-based model – one that agencies have long been calling for but find it hard to put into practice. Clients (82%) also want agencies to help them “get the customer heard at board level” which is quite an ask.

 

The study (with Tracksuit) surveyed clients in charge of marketing budgets of between £1m and £250m. There are five recommendations for agencies:

 

1. Create better stories to reframe agency value

 

2. Promote the power of creative expertise

 

3. Package and promote critical thinking

 

4. Influence board level decision making

 

5. Orientate the agency and refocus remuneration around that value

 

Marcos Angelides, chair of the IPA commercial leadership group and Publicis Media’s MD of L’Oréal Lab & head of AI, said: “Clients want agencies to push their thinking further, challenge assumptions and bring new perspectives to the table. To do that effectively, agencies need to combine creativity and expertise with robust data and insight that guarantees competitive advantage.”

 

Ed Palmer, IPA director of value, says: “Agencies should take heart in the value marketers attach to the creativity, challenge and strategic rigour that agencies are uniquely placed to deliver. But there’s work to be done to ensure that agencies deliver what clients truly value in them, and that that value is recognised and compensated accordingly.”

17531: On Solving WPP Enterprise Solutions.

 

More About Advertising wondered about WPP Enterprise Solutions, a unit in the global flaming dumpster, newly launched with self-promotional hype full of technobabble and straight-up bullshit.

 

Much of the pitch appears to be lifted from recent Harvard Business Review articles. Is it AI-generated content or blatant plagiarism?

 

Clients should avoid seeking solutions from an enterprise seemingly incapable of solving its own problems—or clearly articulating its offerings, benefits, and value in original style.

 

That’s Advertising 101. Ask anyone at WPP White advertising agency Ogilvy, named Network of the Year at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

 

Just saying.

 

WPP launches Enterprise Solutions – in Nerdish

 

By MAA Staff

 

WPP is launching its new Enterprise Solutions suite, one of the pillars of Cindy Rose’s new WPP. At least that’s what we think it is. One thing we’re learning about techies is that they protect their cult with a private language which only they understand and which excludes most of us.

 

This is what Enterprise Solutions does (is the nomenclature like water solutions for plumbers?)

 

AI Transformation Consulting – Helping organisations realise AI value through strategic advisory, architecture and agentic systems.

Agentic Commerce – Converting brand equity and product truth into machine-readable signals that shape how AI agents discover, evaluate and recommend brands.

Owned Intelligence – Converting client-owned data into strategic, AI-ready competitive assets that fuel brand-specific and commercially-attributable results.

Adaptive, Real-time Relationships – Pairing first-party data with AI to anticipate and personalise every interaction, deepening loyalty and growing lifetime value.

Intelligent Content – A closed-loop operating system that plans, produces and activates content using intelligent automation.

 

Does anyone know what, if anything this means? Translator please.