Green Square partner Barry Dudley recently hosted The Drum Live Panel discussion – The Omnicom / IPG shakedown The event took place amid significant shifts in the global advertising holding companies landscape as Omnicom and IPG prepare to merge and rumours persist that other major groups are planning on joining forces to face a marketing future destined to be governed by AI, data and automation. So, what does this all mean if you are a brand using one of the agencies owned by IPG, Omnicom, Stagwell, Publicis, WPP, Havas and Dentsu? The panel explored their views on what the future holds for the holdco model and what the agency your brand is using in the coming years will look like. Watch here
Services: Green Square
The state of the creative production industry 6 months on from the collapse of Technicolor. Nick Berry writes in The Drum
Green Square’s Nick Berry explores a creative production sector at a crossroads: legacy giants collapsing under their own weight while independents surge ahead. The question now is whether a new wave of VFX and production talent can seize the moment and redefine the industry’s future. Soon after Technicolor collapsed earlier this year, I wrote in The Drum about the potential fallout and the opportunity for a new wave of creative production companies to reimagine the future and fill the void. Six months on, and with the Ciclope Festival taking place in Berlin next week to celebrate craft and creativity across the visual arts, I thought it would be timely to look at the creative production and VFX industry and assess how things are shaping up. Soon after Technicolor closed its doors, Jellyfish Pictures met the same fate, and more recently another longstanding player, Glassworks VFX, also reached the end of the road. On the face of things, this paints a bleak picture for the industry. For Technicolor, servicing its huge debt was a massive challenge, but legacy players that have struggled have common traits, including costly physical technology, infrastructure and teams. This has clearly taken its toll on top of the undeniable impact of Covid, the writers’ strikes and so on. Pressure was also building from smaller, more nimble creative production houses, with lower costs and the ability to scale as required, with the cloud removing traditional capital-intensive barriers to entry. Outsourcing to cheaper locations has also helped the development of skills and capabilities globally, leading to more competition from shops with growing reputations in India and the Far East, as well as South America. With mega-mergers and consolidation within large network groups taking place within the ad industry, a lot has been made recently about the opportunity for independent agencies to flourish. This similarly applies to the creative production sector, where the unrelenting appetite for marketing and entertainment content shows no sign of diminishing. So, there is an exciting and fertile environment for ‘new kids on the block’ to thrive. The nature of the visual arts industry means that new, young talent will always push the boundaries, and if you balance this with experience to navigate briefs, budgets and manage client expectations, you can create an exciting winning formula. This mix of raw talent and experience is evident across the industry, with many independent creative production and VFX houses making hay on the back of technical capability, and agility, as well as creative fearlessness. And compared with a decade ago, it is now commonplace for creative production companies to work directly with brands alongside or instead of ad agencies. This is a sign of confidence in their capability and improved standing in the pecking order. As the new generation of creative production companies becomes the establishment, what can they learn from the legacy players that have fallen by the wayside? Jamie Smith, a partner at Sheridans, a leading media law firm, was general counsel at The Mill from 2012 to 2018, the period that spanned the acquisition by Technicolor. Jamie notes: “The biggest change when The Mill became part of Technicolor was that decision-making became centralized. It remained highly successful, but it was now a large machine. In my view, over time, this slowed the decision-making process and localized teams felt less empowered. “With this, the ability to recognize and reward talent diminished, which to me is the biggest issue with creative, talent-based businesses. You rely on talent, and if not careful, you can start to erode your competitive edge and become open to attack from those who can be more flexible.” To succeed in the current climate, Jamie thinks, “Studio leadership teams need to take strategic decisions looking at the next 12-24 months. Get ahead of technology and always ensure efficiency goes hand in hand with creativity. “I still see studios looking at the short term and not beyond. It’s great if your sales pipeline is strong, but not so good if there is an over-reliance on a client or niche type of work. “You need to be bold with hiring and firing. In its prime, The Mill was good at spotting and nurturing talent as well as making changes if it didn’t work. This not only makes people feel they belong to a great studio, but also that the people they are with are the best of the best.” As with all industries, the threat versus opportunity of AI is a major factor in how the future of creative production will play out. Certain aspects of production will inevitably be replaced, or enhanced and sped up, but this has always been the case in this incredibly dynamic and fast-moving industry. VFX tools have developed exponentially over the decades, and the question of how technology is used to advance creativity is not new. To emphasize this point, in a 1971 interview about the role of synthesizers and technology in their music, Pink Floyd said: “We couldn’t do what we do, as we do it, without it… Things are down to how you control them, and whether you are controlling them, and not the other way around… It’s about using the tools available, when they are available. “It’s like saying, give a man a Les Paul guitar and he becomes Eric Clapton… It’s not true… and give a man an amplifier and a synthesizer, he doesn’t become us.” This is a great mantra for the visual arts industry today, and it gives us reason to be excited and embrace the creative potential that further technological advances will present. As I noted a few months ago, there are lots of exciting creative production and VFX specialists gaining a reputation, some of whom are rising from the ashes of Technicolor, including… Arc Creative, which was formed as The Mill was sinking in the US. This new VFX shop was launched by some of The Mill’s US senior leadership in partnership with Dream Machine FX group. It’s been reported over 100 former Mill workers are now employed by Arc. In April, The Heist, a Thinkingbox company, hired key leaders from The Mill US and 30+ former Mill staffers and opened a new office in Chicago. Thinkingbox has also recently announced the launch of a London office led by former senior staff from The Mill UK and France. Folks, a Pitch Black company, also expanded and opened a studio in London and hired former Technicolor CEO Christian Roberton to lead its UK division, in April 2025. Stray was established in 2024 by former senior leaders from The Mill London, including Misha Stanford-Harris, who had been both MD and VP of Global Production before founding Stray. I caught up with Misha recently to discuss what the future holds for the industry and the factors that will underpin success moving forward. Misha says: “The VFX industry has gone through a recalibration. The technology environment allows startups to compete with larger legacy companies on a more even playing field. This has allowed their creative talent to shine and show their true value to the creative process. “The future is bright for companies that can harness technology with real creative talent driving the narrative. It goes without saying that you need to be nimble and able to pivot, as well as deliver great work! “The key is to offer something unique, and ensure creative collaboration with clients, so that you are integral to the process, not just a service.” In sum, resilience and innovation are fundamental to the visual arts industry, and I believe the future remains hugely positive and exciting. Following a turbulent few months, a celebration of creative excellence at Ciclope next week is important and timely to instill confidence across the industry and remind people of the joy and wonder generated by creative production companies to engage and delight customers and audiences alike. Read more
Havas and Horizon’s global gambit: a strategic masterstroke or market mirage? Barry Dudley writes in The Drum
Barry Dudley examines whether the launch of Horizon Global – a joint venture between Havas and Horizon Media Holdings, bringing together $20bn in combined billings and billed as the first AI-era agency network – is a genuine game-changer for media agencies or just glossy boardroom spin. Horizon Global is to be a new entity focused specifically on “US-centric global client opportunities,” allowing both parent entities to maintain their independence. The profits are split, leadership is shared between New York and Paris, and there is to be a combined tech offer that merges Horizon’s Blu platform with Havas’s Converged.AI to create BluConverged. The timing isn’t coincidental. With Omnicom’s pending acquisition of IPG creating a behemoth with billings reportedly north of $70bn, rumors swirling around Dentsu’s potential sale of its international operations, and WPP with a new CEO, the big holdco landscape is experiencing unprecedented change. Horizon Global is hoping to emerge as an alternative for global marketers who suddenly find their agency options dramatically reduced. Bob Lord, Horizon’s president who now also serves as interim CEO of the joint venture, puts it simply: “There is a lack of client choice out in the marketplace.”
Why this could be genius
The strategic logic behind Horizon Global is compelling on multiple fronts. First, it addresses a fundamental geographic imbalance that has long plagued both agencies. Horizon brings formidable US muscle to Havas, while Havas contributes strong European presence, particularly in France and Spain, to Horizon. Then there is speed to market. Interested clients can pick up the phone and enquire – it exists now. Unlike a full merger, which inevitably involves integration headaches and cultural clashes, Horizon Global will become its own thing while allowing the parent businesses to maintain their existing operations just the way they are. It’s collaboration without the pain of full integration. By contrast, the Omnicom-IPG deal was announced last December and only received FTC approval a few days ago, and even then, it was subject to conditions around commitment to political neutrality. If they get it right, the BluConverged platform will combine years of R&D investment by Havas and Horizon with access to a significantly bigger and deeper data pool. Perhaps most importantly, the timing of all of this capitalizes on market uncertainty. If you were a client who is thinking of pitching their global media business, would you add another network to the list when there aren’t that many candidates to put on the list in the first place? I suspect they might.
The challenges ahead
While Havas and Horizon have $20bn in combined billings, a significant portion will remain in those businesses. As mentioned above, the joint venture is aiming for “US-centric global client opportunities,” so is it clientless until the first of those ‘opportunities’ is converted? And even with the clout and influence of the parents’ $20bn, this is still somewhat dwarfed by the billings of WPP, Publicis and the soon-to-be-combined Omnicom-IPG. Then there is the scale challenge of servicing truly global clients. Although Horizon Global can claim a footprint of over 100 countries, the depth and quality of that coverage inevitably varies significantly from market to market. And while a joint venture may be quicker to make happen than a merger, it is not without its own operational complexities and ongoing challenges. It must navigate the inherent tensions of having two parent companies, with different cultures, strategic priorities and ways of working. The leadership team, split between New York and Paris, will need to maintain constant alignment while managing potentially competing interests. Interim CEO Bob Lord and global COO Renata Spackova both still have their existing day jobs to attend to at Horizon and Havas, respectively.
A missed opportunity
As someone who witnessed first-hand the power of an agency name during my time with a business called Naked, I do wonder if a trick has been missed here. Undoubtedly, there are many factors that make the likes of Mischief, Rethink, Uncommon and Special such unique and successful businesses, but I’ll bet that the name and the ethos that sits behind each of them will have often been a distinguishing pitch-winning factor, overtly or subliminally. But Horizon Global… BluConverged… What’s my suggestion, you ask? ‘The Other One.’ Where client relationships are everything and execution is paramount, even the most elegant partnership structures can crumble if they can’t deliver superior outcomes. Without this, the masterstroke soon becomes a mirage. But one thing is certain: the big media agency landscape just became a little more interesting. Read more
The Drum Live Panel Compered by Barry Dudley: Holdco veterans declare ‘a new era for independents’
The Drum Live 2025 is now in full swing, featuring two days of debate and comment that bring their audience into the live workings of The Drum. What do VCCP, FGS Global and Kantar all have in common? Yes, they’re some of the biggest organisations in the marketing world, but there’s something else too: they’re among the companies that have left the world of marketing’s titanic holding companies and are enjoying their time as independents. So says Ajaz Ahmed, who’s been on his own journey of independence of late. The founder of AKQA led the agency through its acquisition by WPP until the point at which he turned a critic of adland’s holding company model. He left in 2024 and this year has launched Studio.One, which he told The Drum will be a “direct rival” to the “slow, bloated, expensive agency model” at the holdcos. Speaking at The Drum Live today, Ahmed celebrated a “new era for independent agencies,” in which, he says, not only are those former WPP-owned shops such as VCCP thriving, but other indies, including Mother and Mischief, are entering a purple patch. “They’re all thriving,” Ahmed told an audience at The Drum’s HQ in Shoreditch, London. “And the founders or the partners have both the skin in the game and that stakeholder management. It’s definitely an exciting time for independent agencies.” Ahmed was joined on stage by Jon Goulding, the chief executive at independent shop Atomic London since 2012, who racked up 12 years at Omnicom shops Rapp and DDB; and Zoe Eagle, chief exec at Iris (an indie-adjacent shop owned by Cheil), a veteran of Publicis’s BBH and an ad behemoth of another kind, Accenture, as it absorbed Karmarama. The panel was compered by Barry Dudley – no stranger to indie-network dynamics in his role as a partner at M&A advisory practice Green Square. Why are independents finding themselves so bullish? Well, the ad biz isn’t a zero-sum game, but one factor is a battery of high-profile manoeuvrings in the holdco world that our panellists used to call home, which bespeak opportunity for hungry indies: the ongoing Omnicom-IPG merger; WPP welcoming a new leader amid a difficult year; Dentsu reportedly looking to offload its holdings outside Japan; S4 posting shrinking revenues.
Lessons from the mothership
While it’s convenient to treat the ad industry’s holding companies as an interchangeable set, of course, that’s only a convenient fiction: they’re distinct organisations with distinct histories and organisational set-ups. “Not all holding companies are the same and to kind of have this umbrella term as a holding company and imagine they’re all running the same way is completely and utterly inaccurate,” says Ahmed. Still, each of our panellists has entered their current role with lessons of what to bring forward from their former employers and what to leave well behind. Ahmed’s Studio.One, for example, has done away with time sheets and is committed to not having an HR department. Another lesson from former employer WPP, he says, is: “There seem to be more job titles than there are people [at the holding companies]. So many chiefs! Everyone at holding companies seems to be a ‘chief’… What we vowed was that we’re going to have only three job titles.” For her part, Zoe Eagle’s first act when arriving at Iris almost a year ago was getting rid of ‘utilization’ as a metric. “I found it to be a shrink-inducing thing to be focusing on,” Eagle says. “It’s sort of pointless to be looking at when you’re trying to create an environment that is innovation-focused, growth-oriented and about top-line growth.” It’s not just a practical consideration for Eagle – in fact, this issue connects to an existential question for the marketing industry: “Are we compliance-governance-process organizations, or are we innovation-organizations that are going to encourage unexpected, entrepreneurial, out-of-the-box thinking? That’s where disproportionate, explosive growth is going to come from. And tech transformation is really putting that into focus: when you’re trying to drive efficiency within a tech stack, you need a completely different type of person than when you’re trying to create something totally unexpected and never seen before that’s going to cut through.”
From ‘holding company’ to ‘operating company’
Running Atomic now for over 13 years, Jon Goulding says that it all comes down to using the agility of independence to give clients what they want. And what they want is to really get to know their partners and feel the impact of collaboration with them. “Clients need those collisions of really seeing people working on their business and their company’s future,” he says. Being an operator and not just a manager is the route to that collaborative mode. Holdcos and indies alike, Goulding says, need to get closer to operations. “The problem with the name ‘holding company’ is that, by definition, it was built to hold entrepreneurial people… Now, you’ve got to move to being an ‘operating company.’” What does this prototypical ‘operating company’ look like? For Goulding, it comes down to avoiding the pitfalls of moving further away from the work. “There are a lot of CEOs who aren’t actually in control of their businesses or all their clients’ work. That’s why it’s such a rich time for indies, because you’re able to throw yourself into online client work. The opportunity is to get off the fence and become an operating company”. For Eagle, this all smells like opportunity. Both holding companies and independents will continue to exist for as long as any of us can see, but which ones will survive, she says, will come down to agility and entrepreneurialism. “You need environments that can nurture innovative, creative thinking. And I think the question will be, which of these businesses is able to do that effectively? The market demand isn’t going anywhere. “Businesses want to hack growth because resources are tight. You need people who are equipped to be entrepreneurial… There’s an opportunity for businesses like ours to get that talent out and really give them the space to thrive.” Read more
The Omnicom / IPG shakedown – Panel Debate Lead by Barry Dudley at The Drum Live, 24th September 2025
There’s lots happening in the global advertising holding companies as Omnicom and IPG prepare to merge and rumours persist that other major groups are planning on joining forces to face a marketing future destined to be governed by AI, data and automation. So, what does this all mean if you are a brand using one of the agencies owned by IPG, Omnicom, Stagwell, Publicis, WPP, Havas and Dentsu? Barry Dudley will moderate a panel where participants share their views on what the future holds for the holdco model and what the agency your brand is using in the coming years will look like. Read more Attend Agenda
The A-game: From revenue to real value. Tony Walford guest appearance on the Agency Works webinar 19th September.
Tony Walford is pleased to have been invited as a guest on the Agency Works A-Game webinar on 19th September, where he’ll be discussing the key drivers of agency value with the inimitable Jay Neale. Register here Every agency owner thinks about growth. Some dream of scaling, others of a future sale, and many of securing investment to take their business to the next level. But here’s the challenge: what creates value in an agency isn’t always what owners think. A big client win, a glossy award, or rapid revenue growth might feel like success – but to acquirers and investors, they’re only part of the story. The truth is, financial value comes down to a handful of critical drivers. Miss them, and your agency may struggle to attract the right buyer or partner. Nail them, and you’ll open the door to investment, acquisition, or a successful exit. Tony Walford, partner of Green Square and one of the leading M&A and corporate advisory voices in the marketing communications, media and tech sectors, is chatting to Jay Neale. Tony advises agencies on what makes them attractive to acquirers, how to navigate the planning process, and where the market is heading next. They’ll be discussing the key drivers of financial value every agency needs to get right, what acquirers are really looking for and recent trends around growth.
S4 confirms MSQ merger talks – here’s why a deal could tempt both parties. Barry Dudley writes in The Drum
Barry Dudley of Green Square dissects the fledgling talks between S4 Capital and MSQ Partners, exploring strategic fit, the market forces driving the potential deal and what it could mean for Sir Martin Sorrell’s “new-age” marketing group after a turbulent few years. S4 Capital, Sir Martin Sorrell’s ‘new-age’ digital marketing group, has confirmed that it is in very preliminary deal talks with MSQ Partners, the creative and technology agency network that is majority-owned by US private equity firm One Equity Partners (OEP). The potential deal – which S4 says would be structured as an acquisition of MSQ by S4 Capital rather than a takeover of S4 – comes after a bruising period for the group. S4’s share price has fallen more than 90% from its peak only a few years ago. The current market capitalization sits at around £140m, a fraction of the multibillion pound valuation it once enjoyed. I’ve heard rumors and seen reports of other interested parties in the past, including the likes of Stagwell, New Mountain Capital and Accenture. I suspect Sir Martin has had many conversations come at him, or indeed he has sought them. Probably even more are incoming right now.
Two different growth stories
S4 Capital was founded in 2018 after Sorrell’s high-profile exit from WPP. Built on aggressive M&A, it focused on digital content production, programmatic advertising and data-driven marketing through acquisitions such as MediaMonks and MightyHive. Its client base reads like a tech-sector who’s-who: Alphabet, Amazon, Meta to name just a few. However, that narrow tech focus has been a double-edged sword. When the sector tightened budgets and many reallocated spend towards AI investments, S4’s revenues took a hit – compounded by accounting missteps, economic headwinds and rising interest rates. MSQ Partners, on the other hand, offers a broader spread of clients – more than 250, including Unilever, Haleon, Lego, P&G and Booking.com – across consumer goods, healthcare, financial services and B2B. It operates through a decentralized network of specialist agencies spanning advertising, PR, design, digital, and tech. Since being acquired by OEP in 2023, MSQ has invested in integrated, creative-plus-tech delivery models. We recently advised Precious Media, a connected commerce digital agency, on its sale to MSQ. So how could they fit: Complementary client bases – S4 is over-indexed to tech; MSQ brings balance through FMCG, healthcare, and finance. Capability cross-sell – MSQ’s creative brand-building could bolster S4’s digital execution; S4’s programmatic and data expertise could sharpen MSQ’s digital performance offering. Geographic scale – S4’s US and APAC strength could mesh with MSQ’s European roots, giving a broader footprint without heavy duplication. AI positioning – Both have leaned into AI narratives, but a combined group could pool their R&D resources.
Market backdrop
The marketing services sector is undergoing its biggest structural shift since the holding-company era of the 80s and 90s. AI is reshaping creative workflows, media buying and data analytics. Clients are consolidating their agency rosters, looking for faster, integrated delivery. The network groups have been re-engineering their own businesses to face this new way of working, with WPP recently merging its media offer under one brand. All are focussed on, and investing in, AI to help them deliver across media, creative and processes. But these are big legacy firms… and big ships can find it notoriously difficult to change course quickly. This has created fertile ground for private equity–backed roll-ups and mergers of complementary mid-scale networks. We’ve seen a plethora of PE firms coming into the market and appetite isn’t abating. For OEP, combining MSQ with S4 could create another top-tier independent rival, not only to snap at the heels of the mega groups, but also some of the smaller challenger brands and the other PE-backed indies. It could also give MSQ more muscle in terms of its own future expansion, both geographically and in terms of capability infills it may need.
Fascinating unknowns
Will OEP take it off the stock market? I suspect it will, not least because it removes that historical peak – which was arguably a significant over-valuation – which will otherwise be a benchmark that continues to be referenced under the current listing. That said, maintaining the listing could open up other options in terms of financing future acquisitions. And where will Sir Martin end up if this goes through? His voting control and personal stake mean no deal happens without him seeing a clear path for himself. Wherever things go, he looks set for another defining chapter in his career. Or will he head for the beach, which is where I am right now… Read more
Green Square advises Precious Media on its acquisition by MSQ
We are delighted to have advised Precious Media (“Precious”), a connected commerce digital agency based in London, on its acquisition by MSQ, the next-generation creative, technology and media company that is one of the world’s fastest-growing marketing groups. Precious will initially retain its brand and transition to MSQ’s M3 Labs over time. Established in 2007, Precious works at the intersection of content and commerce, leveraging strategy and insights to join up clients’ digital ecosystems and forge lasting connections between brands and their customers. Precious helps drive sales internationally for clients including Diageo, Hilton, Unilever and MARS. Launched last year, MSQ’s M3 Labs helps businesses Make, Manage and Measure their marketing content, delivering culturally relevant content faster and more effectively. The business has become a key part of MSQ’s end-to-end offer. Precious and M3 Labs will collaborate closely under a shared leadership structure to immediately bring joined-up thinking to clients. Collectively, M3 Labs’ team of 130 will work across London, Germany, Singapore, New York, Dubai and KSA with offshore hubs in Spain and India. Together they will deliver future-focused, always-on personalised content at scale and speed across all channels, backed by MSQ’s broader data, media and digital experience teams. Under the new M3 Labs structure, Chairman Mark Crampton and Managing Director Rebecca Vickery will be joined by Precious’ founder Peter Christiansen, reporting into MSQ’s executive director, Kate Howe.
Kate Howe, Executive Director at MSQ commented:
“The acquisition of Precious brings real depth in global production, tech-enabled products and e-commerce with experienced innovative industry leadership. Precious adds significant e-commerce and behavioural experience and will enable us to connect the dots even more than before with shared clients so that we are aligning brand profile with sales impact.”
Peter Christiansen, Founder and Managing Director of Precious, commented:
“The opportunity to join a bigger team with like-minded people that bring other skills to the table to benefit our clients, while retaining what makes Precious the unique agency it is, made this a really interesting proposition. MSQ is a great fit for entrepreneurial agencies to grow and collaborate, and I look forward to working with the enlarged M3 Labs team to the benefit of our business, our people and our clients.” “From our initial discovery sessions with Green Square, they have been at our side to guide us through the complexities and challenges of the process, which has been an exciting and insightful learning experience. Green Square’s dedication, attention to detail and positive attitude, along with their ability to focus on what really mattered, has been nothing short of outstanding! I’m truly grateful.”
Nick Berry, Partner at Green Square, commented:
“Getting to know Peter and the Precious team has been a fantastic experience. Precious’ client-centric approach and commitment to excellence are infectious. The continued growth of the business and the high esteem their clients hold them in are equally impressive.” “The strategic alignment with MSQ has been clear from the outset, and the potential benefit for clients is exciting. We look forward to seeing the continued success of both parties during the next stage of their journey.” Precious Media MSQ
Why the writing was on the wall for Mark Read at WPP. Tony Walford quoted in The Drum
Speculation over the CEO’s future had become an unwanted distraction at a time when the holding company is trying to rebuild around AI and its WPP Media proposition. As WPP exits go, this one was not as shocking as the 10pm Saturday evening bombshell back in 2018 that Sir Martin Sorrell would be stepping down as CEO with immediate effect.
The 7am Monday press release announcing Mark Read’s departure at the end of the year was befitting of a man who, by nature, has always been more understated than his high-profile predecessor. But context, not choreography, is the real reason Read’s resignation, seven years after succeeding Sorrell, hasn’t come as a shock today. It had been an open secret for months now, inside WPP’s Sea Containers HQ in London and out, that the CEO was on the brink. As early as February, The Drum was in the company of senior counterparts from a rival holding company who were crudely discussing Read’s departure as a matter of when, not if. Unkind industry speculation has not stopped since and even found its way into a Sunday Times profile of Read, in April, referring to “ad industry gossips” suggesting the boss was “on his way out.” The ruthless rumor-mongering has been fueled by WPP’s sluggish performance in recent quarters, with revenue down 5% in Q1 and its share price falling 29% year-on-year at the time of writing. It is not the only holdco to have struggled in an undeniably grim macroeconomic climate, but its revenue decline has looked particularly perilous next to the much healthier performance of its main competitors, Publicis Groupe and Omnicom. WPP cannot simply claim to be a victim of challenging circumstances when its biggest rivals are winning. There’s the symbolism, too. After three decades at the top, WPP lost its position as the world’s biggest advertising holding company to Publicis at the end of 2024. The relentless rise of its French challenger and the impending mega-merger of American rivals Omnicom and IPG have made for unflattering comparisons and a gnawing sense among some observers that WPP risks being left behind by its growing rivals. Read has not been deaf to this mood music. As has been characteristic of his tenure, he has been bold in restructuring WPP’s agency brands in a bid to convince clients and shareholders it has the right model for the future. Only last month, he announced the rebranding of media buying giant GroupM to WPP Media, a significant step in reimagining the most valuable part of the business. But what should have been a milestone moment was spoiled by news of the relaunch leaking to the press before employees had been briefed, causing consternation for GroupM staffers unsure if their roles would survive the restructuring. Leaks are inevitable in an organization of more than 100,000 people. But staff dissent has become increasingly visible and vitriolic in recent months. The public backlash to WPP’s return to office mandate in January, prompting a 20,000-strong petition, was a case in point. Mandating four days’ office attendance may not be universally popular, but it is hardly draconian, especially when many of WPP’s FTSE 100 counterparts are insisting staff return to the office full-time. But haphazard company communication and questionable practical planning blew the issue out of proportion, turning internal politics into public ridicule. Once a narrative builds, it is hard to stop. Each company town hall (increasingly leaked, by the way) becomes a goldfish bowl, each account move a damning blow. The loss of $700m worth of Coca-Cola US media business in March was undoubtedly a sickener for Read and the man who may end up succeeding him, WPP Media CEO Brian Lesser. But the industry post-mortems on this portion of the account moving to Publicis vastly outweighed the coverage of Coke proudly renewing the remainder of its business, worth more than $3bn, with WPP two weeks ago. WPP had delivered “significant value,” said Coke’s global CMO, Manuel Arroyo, in a largely under-the-radar LinkedIn post. It sounds superficial. But if you want to be the CEO of one of the world’s biggest communications companies, company communication cannot be underestimated. This doesn’t mean you need the bravado of Sorrell (Arthur Sadoun, the CEO of Publicis Groupe, seldom speaks to the press outside earnings updates), but you do need a compelling story. Read inherited a chaotic and oversized organization. The analyst firm Forrester, recognizing WPP’s complexity, urged him to consolidate its innumerable agencies into a handful of core networks and get its media agencies to “operate as a single GroupM.” Its recommendations proved remarkably prophetic, but this was seven years ago. Since Read merged Y&R and VML in September 2018 – the first of a procession of agency mergers that continue today – it is as though the company has been in perpetual transformation mode. Compare Publicis. “Our transformation is behind us,” said Sadoun in February after being officially crowned the world’s biggest holding company. The Paris firm’s clear and compelling ‘Power of One’ approach, integrating creative, media, data and technology under a unified structure and reducing silos, has been credited with fueling its meteoric growth from third player to top dog. The creation of WPP Media is a tacit admission of how successful this approach has become. As Tony Walford, CEO of corporate advisory Green Square, says: “When Mark Read took over from Sorrell in 2018, things were very different. During his tenure, we’ve seen the rise of Meta and Alphabet, which now dominate the market in terms of sheer media volume, coupled with the threat of AI becoming reality and the need to streamline operations to face the market differently. When you have over 100,000 staff in a business built in a different world, this is tricky. “Publicis had first-mover advantage with its Power of One, while Omnicom and IPG are attempting to solve their challenges by coming together. As mentioned in our commentary on WPP’s 2024 results, it appeared to be putting all its faith in GroupM, having brought Brian Lesser back in last September to lead it all, under which it has subsequently pulled together all WPP’s media operations. “In sum, Read had non-stop challenges mostly not of his making, but maybe WPP just didn’t pivot quickly enough. Easy to say in hindsight and we shouldn’t ignore what was otherwise a stellar 30-year career building the group alongside Sorrell.” Read’s recent PR drive, including the Sunday Times story, an appearance on stage at SXSW and an interview with Fortune, looks now like belated recognition that he and WPP needed to tell their story better. He also used his exit statement to recount his achievements: “I was delighted for our teams that last year we were once again named Creative Company of the Year at Cannes Lions. We have also positioned WPP at the forefront of the industry with our investments in AI and, with the full launch of WPP Open this year, we are now leading the way as AI transforms marketing. We have an exceptional leadership team and a secure financial position that allows us to face the future confidently and capture the opportunities ahead.” Unlike the Saturday shocker when Sorrell left, WPP is in control of the story this time. A week before Cannes Lions is hardly textbook timing to part ways with a CEO, but with rumors of its global Mars media account hanging in the balance, getting the news out now will stop speculation about the boss from overshadowing its big pitch on WPP Media and AI on the Croisette. Beyond that will begin the real test of the transformation Read began – and the unfinished business his successor will inherit. Read more
“Own Something or Own Nothing” – M&A Is Reshaping the Creative Industries. Tony Walford speaking at Cannes Lions
Our partner Tony Walford is delighted to be speaking with HaysMac at Cannes on their panel discussing the changing landscape in M&A across the creative and tech industries. It’s at a fabulous villa in Super-Cannes on Tuesday 17th June from 4:00pm to 6:30pm, drinks and nibbles provided (plus lots of networking opportunities). If you’d like to join please register here