WPP's Cindy Rose outlines restructuring plans after profit warnings

WPP’s new Chief Executive Officer, Cindy Rose, is preparing a restructuring of the advertising group as it struggles with declining revenues, client losses and investor concerns over the impact of artificial intelligence, the Financial Times reported.

In her first interview since taking over in September, Rose said she plans to simplify the agency’s operations, arguing that the traditional agency network model belongs to “a bygone era.” The full details of the changes are expected early next year.

Rose took charge of WPP after a turbulent period marked by profit warnings and client departures that contributed to a roughly 60% fall in the company’s share price over the past year. The agency is now valued at about £3.7 billion, down from as much as £24 billion less than a decade ago, and dropped out of the FTSE 100 this month for the first time in nearly 30 years.

“This is more than just a new job for me. This is a mission,” Rose told the publication, saying her goal was to secure the long-term future of what she called “a great British company.”

Rose declined to comment on potential job losses but acknowledged she was seeking “operational efficiencies.” She succeeded Mark Read after previously serving as a non-executive director on WPP’s board. Before joining WPP, she led Microsoft’s European operations.

WPP projected in October that adjusted like-for-like revenues would fall between 5.5% and 6% this year. Rose said the agency’s performance had not been acceptable, calling the forecast a “call to action” internally.

More than half of WPP’s client pitches now involve integrated services across multiple agencies, Rose said, reflecting client demand for combined creative, data, commerce and influencer capabilities rather than siloed agency teams.

Earlier this month, WPP raised €1 billion through an oversubscribed bond issue, which the media report said some insiders viewed as a sign of continued investor support despite shareholder frustration.

Concerns about the effect of AI on advertising have weighed on WPP’s share price. Rose said the company intends to use the technology to its advantage, citing its internal AI platform, WPP Open, which is designed to support ad creation, placement and measurement.

Rose acknowledged that AI adoption would raise questions about some roles but rejected the idea that it poses an existential threat to the industry. “I think AI is a once in a generation opportunity,” she said.

Rose said AI is likely to put downward pressure on pricing and challenge the industry’s reliance on billable hours, pushing firms toward fee structures based more on technology and outcomes.

WPP is not alone in restructuring. The media report noted that rival Omnicom recently eliminated several long-standing agency brands as part of its merger with Interpublic Group. Rose said she supports maintaining multiple agencies at WPP, even as their roles evolve.

“If we do our jobs well, and we will, AI will be value-accretive to WPP,” she said, as stated in the media report.