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Below is a roundup of last week’s notable industry news, with summaries and our opinions. Being WPP’s new CEO is no bed of roses…

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Top Story 👁️

5 Challenges Facing New WPP CEO Cindy Rose
Source: Adweek
July 14th, 2025

Summary: WPP has tapped Microsoft executive Cindy Rose as its new CEO, replacing Mark Read, who will step down in September 2025. Rose brings serious tech credentials—she's currently COO for Microsoft's global enterprise division and previously led Microsoft's Western Europe operations. She's also been on WPP's board since 2019, though that is her only ad industry experience.

The timing is notable. WPP just issued an unscheduled profit warning last week, projecting 3%-5% revenue decline for 2025 amid client losses, sending the company’s share price down 17%. Despite the turbulence, WPP continues doubling down on AI and data capabilities, investing $400M annually on its AI-powered WPP Open platform and recently acquiring data clean room company InfoSum. (WPP may not be done with M&A; there are rumors flying around about some sort of potential deal between WPP and Accenture.)

With Publicis pulling ahead of the agency holdco pack in recent years through its data-driven transformation, and the pending Omnicom-IPG mega-merger, WPP clearly felt it needed someone who understands both tech and large-scale enterprise operations. 

Rose faces significant challenges: turning around WPP's declining share price, proving that massive AI investments can deliver returns, and rebuilding morale among demoralized staff and clients—all while learning an industry she's never technically worked in."

Opinion: Rose's hire signals a potentially ambitious pivot for WPP: transforming itself from a services company into a tech company. While agencies have endeavored to become tech companies in the past (and mostly failed), timing may finally be right for a holdco to make this transition effectively. It won’t be easy. Success will depend on strong leadership and vision for an AI-centric world.

Rose's Microsoft background suggests she may be the right fit. Microsoft sells platforms that other companies build on top of. Microsoft does not consulting services, nor do they sell agency services. Imagine WPP Open becoming the Salesforce of advertising, with companies paying monthly subscriptions to access WPP's AI and data tools. Rose has spent years overseeing Microsoft's transition from product company to platform company generating massive recurring revenue and might aim to do the same for WPP.

This would be a seismic shift for agency ecosystem. Currently, WPP's AI investments in WPP Open and InfoSum primarily serve internal efficiency—helping their own agencies win pitches and deliver campaigns faster. But what if these tools became external products? Smaller agencies could pay for access to WPP's data clean room technology. Brands could license WPP's AI creative tools for in-house teams. Suddenly, WPP isn't just competing for client budgets as an agency—it's extracting value from the entire advertising supply chain as a tech platform.

This strategy would make some sense. Platform revenue is valued much more than agency revenue. WPP’s value has been crushed. While traditional agency growth requires hiring more people and winning more clients, platform revenue grows exponentially with each new user. If WPP can transform even a portion of its business into recurring software revenue, it could command tech company valuations instead of service company multiples. 

Our speculation about why WPP hired Rose might be off base. But it’s surely interesting to ponder. Is WPP starting to play chess while Publicis and others are playing checkers?

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