WPP has officially rebranded its media investment arm, GroupM, to WPP Media, a “fully integrated, AI-powered company”.
Agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker and EssenceMediacom will “continue to provide clients with dedicated teams as brands within WPP Media, leveraging common capabilities, technology and support functions”, according to a WPP spokesperson.
The unit will manage over $60bn in annual media investment across 80 markets.
Reflecting on the change, WPP CEO Mark Read said the rebrand “continues our strategy to simplify and integrate our offer for clients”.
He continued: “While GroupM was built for a time when media scale mattered most, WPP Media reflects the power of AI, data and technology and simpler, more integrated solutions.
“Our vision for the future is clear — marketing that is informed by data, led by seamlessly connected teams of brilliant people, and full of new opportunities for our clients.”
The move to consolidate GroupM’s agency brands was first reported this month by Ad Age. The Media Leader later confirmed that GroupM would retain its agency brands as “client service brands” to house “dedicated client teams” amid the reshuffle, but that agency brand job titles will be “sunset”.
It is unclear how the consolidated agencies will manage client conflict.
WPP Media agencies will also no longer operate as distinct businesses units with separate profit-and-loss (P&L) statements.
Ahead of the move, the holding group has laid off dozens of staff across both its UK and US offices. According to Adweek, nearly half of US GroupM staff have been informed that they would be “impacted” by the restructure, although this does not necessarily equate to the number of people departing the business.
The rebrand has been developed by global CEO Brian Lesser, who succeeded Christian Juhl in September 2024. During Lesser’s tenure, WPP Media has seen substantial leadership turnover, with the departure of several global agency CEOs and staff, such as EMEA CEO Josh Krichefski and EssenceMediacom global CEO Nick Lawson.
In advance of the consolidation, ex-McKinsey partner Emily Del Greco was named global chief operating officer in February. Mindshare global CEO Adam Gerhart was recently moved to the group level to become WPP Media’s global chief client officer, while Wavemaker global CEO Toby Jenner became global chief business officer.
Lesser has pushed to modernise the business through the use of AI and data. He led the acquisition of data platform InfoSum in April (Lesser was chairman and CEO of InfoSum from 2020 to 2024) and has championed WPP Open, WPP’s wider AI-powered marketing platform.
“Consumers already expect advertising to be relevant and engaging and buying experiences to be seamless; those expectations are only going to accelerate in the age of AI,” Lesser said in a statement. “WPP Media is built for a world in which media is everywhere and in everything.
“By investing in our AI-powered product, integrating our offer with data and technology, and equipping our people with future-facing skills, we’re helping our clients to stay ahead of rapidly changing consumer behaviour and unlock the limitless opportunities for growth that AI will create.”
In its Q1 earnings, WPP reported a 2.7% decline in organic revenue. GroupM saw a 0.9% year-on-year drop in revenue — a 3.3 percentage point decrease from the year before.
