WPP is reportedly rebranding GroupM, its media investment arm, to WPP Media.
As first reported by Ad Age, the move is likely to result in layoffs amid a consolidation of GroupM’s individual agency investment teams.
Media agencies under GroupM include EssenceMediacom, Wavemaker and Mindshare. Globally, the group employs over 40,000, more than a third of WPP’s staff.
A spokesperson for GroupM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The rebrand is part of an effort by WPP to modernise its media offering to better compete with the likes of Publicis and Omnicom Group, both of which have more streamlined agency structures.
Uncertainty and soft guidance as holding groups struggle for growth in Europe
As GroupM UK CEO Kate Rowlinson described to The Media Leader last month, the investment arm is undergoing a “journey of transformation” that will result in a more data- and AI-driven business model and a more consolidated structure.
The changes have been developed by global CEO Brian Lesser, who succeeded Christian Juhl last September.
Under Lesser, there has been substantial leadership turnover at GroupM. EMEA CEO Josh Krichefski notably stepped down in March after 14 years at the agency. He was replaced by Mindshare global chief operating officer Michael Karg.
Meanwhile, GroupM has removed a number of global agency CEO roles in an effort to consolidate leadership at the group level. Nick Lawson, EssenceMediacom’s global CEO, left in December. He was followed in March by their agency’s global chief operating officer, Frances Ralston-Good.
Mindshare global CEO Adam Gerhart was also recently promoted to GroupM’s global chief client officer while Wavemaker global CEO Toby Jenner became GroupM global chief business officer.
Lesser’s digital focus has emphasised the use of AI to increasingly plan and optimise media plans. It has also extended into mergers and acquisitions. He led the acquisition of data platform InfoSum last month (Lesser was previously chairman and CEO of InfoSum from 2020 to 2024), which Rowlinson called a “really exciting acquisition” that “allows us to really accelerate the Open Intelligence data approach.”
But amid GroupM’s transformation journey, it has also lost a number of high-profile accounts, including Sky in the UK and Coca-Cola in North America, despite Lesser reportedly being hands on during the latter’s review.
In its Q1 earnings, WPP reported a 2.7% decline in organic revenue. GroupM, which had recently been a regular bright spot amid recent declines in other aspects of the holding group’s business, also saw a 0.9% year-over-year drop in revenue — a 3.3 percentage point decrease in growth from the year before.
Inside GroupM’s ‘journey of transformation’
