Clients First: Why WPP Media Has Refreshed Its Leadership Structure

WPP Media has restructured its UK leadership team to deliver greater focus on clients’ business and drive more effective and efficient media solutions to propel brand growth.

Comprising agency brands EssenceMediacom, Mindshare, T&P, and Wavemaker, and led in the UK by CEO Kate Rowlinson, WPP Media has now introduced new president and executive vice president roles for each of the individual agencies. The moves make good on WPP Media's ambition to offer a simplified, frictionless client-first model, underpinned by a unified approach to accelerate advantage for all clients.

The new line-up is closely aligned with the WPP CEO Cindy Rose’s mantra of winning for clients, putting people first, and harnessing the company’s AI advantage, and is designed to empower top talent in the service of clients. It also follows on from the Vision 30 strategy launched in May by WPP Media's global chief executive Brian Lesser – a five-year plan that will meet the needs of clients while developing next-gen media skills and services through AI. That vision will be built across five priorities: Data & Technology, People, Innovation, Collaboration, and Organisational Design.

The new approach represents one of the biggest changes to WPP’s media proposition in years and reflects developments in the wider advertising sector as networks unify agency brands and simplify their structures to make it easier for clients to access their best and brightest people.

It all chimes with what marketers frequently tell us they are looking for from their agencies now.

It's clear from talking to CMOs that having 'their' agency people focussed on their business (rather than internal red tape) is a key priority; people really matter, even in the age of AI, and having appointed the best people to handle their business clients really want as much of those people's time as they can get. And in an ever more complex media world, marketers say they are looking for frictionless access to the most advanced tools, aligned with the best strategic thinking and delivered with cost efficiencies baked in.

The new look WPP Media has been built to meet these demands.

Five Reasons Why…WPP Media Has A New Leadership Structure

• Client-First Focus

  The restructure is designed to put clients at the centre of everything. By aligning leadership directly with client portfolios, WPP ensures senior talent is focused on outcomes, not bureaucracy.

  Each brand will now be led by WPP Media presidents, given the responsibility to oversee specific client portfolios. Taking on those president roles will be Natalie Cummins, leading EssenceMediacom clients, Jon Stevens, leading Wavemaker clients, Victoria Appleby who will continue to lead T&P across media and creative, and Jem Lloyd Williams who takes on the dual role of president of Mindshare and chief strategy officer for WPP Media, working alongside Mindshare executive vice president Fleur Stoppani and her leadership team.

  According to Rowlinson: “Our ambition is clear: to have our strongest talent working directly with clients – entirely focused on driving growth and opportunity for them in new and innovative ways. We will remove as much bureaucracy and operational burden as we possibly can, so our teams, powered by AI, can deliver for clients.”

• Streamlining Operations

  Operating under a single P&L and consolidating strategy into one organisation reduces internal friction. This aims to allow faster decision-making and more agile service delivery.

  Key to supporting that will be this ‘evolved team’ that includes several other key moves, including Kelly Parker becoming chief media officer, tasked with creating a new division – Media Management and Delivery. This will embrace responsibility for all activation and investment teams, with the key aim of delivering value and maximum performance for client investment.

• Accelerating AI Adoption

  The core principle of the Vision30 strategy is to deeply embed AI functions across all of WPP Media, leveraging WPP Open and Open Intelligence to enhance performance and client value.

  With that in mind, Nick Adams becomes WPP Media president for Choreograph, leading the company’s global data products and technology offer for clients, alongside the rollout of WPP Open and Open Intelligence.

• Empowering Talent

  The creation of the presidential roles is designed to free up each agency’s top talent, taking them away from the daily administrative tasks that may hold them back from fully dedicating themselves to clients. Clients expect top talent access and attention when they hire an agency – and this new structure empowers WPP Media to better deliver on those expectations. The appointment of a new CSO alongside a Strategy EVP team will also ensure strategic excellence across the board.

  A suite of executive vice presidents (EVPs) will also be focused on client service and delivery, while a new team of strategy EVPs are set to report into Jem Lloyd Williams too.

• Organisational Design For Growth

  The restructure is the bedrock designed to make WPP Media a more competitive media organisation, ready to tackle the increasingly fragmented media landscape. The new streamlined operational structure should mean faster, smoother, simpler and better delivery across the board. “Everything we are doing is about delivering more value, more quickly, and more effectively for our clients. It’s about being truly client-first in every sense of the word, and as Cindy Rose has said, ‘harnessing our AI advantage,’” adds Rowlinson.

There's no doubt that the media industry will continue to see fast paced change. WPP Media now looks better placed to move quickly and adapt, whilst having an ever closer focus on what clients want and need.