“He Fought the Good Fight”: Rob Reilly on Mark Read’s Creative Legacy

WPP has been named Creative Company of the Year four times in the past five years—a track record that helps explain why its global chief creative officer, Rob Reilly, remains a vocal advocate for Cannes Lions. But for all his belief in the festival, he’s also clear-eyed about its limitations—he wants more of the creativity it celebrates to extend beyond the Palais and into the wider industry.

Now in his fifth year overseeing the creative output at the agency holding company, the much-lauded Reilly remains as passionate about the creative industry as ever. But also clear-eyed about the challenges ahead - he wants creativity to drive more than just trophies and headlines. He's also one of the loudest voices in the industry on the potential of artificial intelligence. "I’m in the top five AI users across the company,” he says.

Reilly also remains a staunch supporter of outgoing chief executive Mark Read - crediting him with betting big on creativity and laying the foundations for WPP’s future. “I will certainly miss him,” he adds. “He's been an amazing partner and CEO, and I think you will see Mark again.”

In this wide-ranging interview, Reilly talks about the work that inspired him at this year’s Cannes Lions, why awards still matter, how AI has changed his creative process—and why Dove continues to set the gold standard for brand-building.

Creative Salon: What did winning Creative Company of the Year mean to WPP?

Rob Reilly: In a pitch, being able to open with the fact that we're ahead of the game on AI and are the most creative company in the world sets the tone. I think it’s also important for recruitment and recognition. Sadly, there are few benchmarks for creativity beyond award shows. For me, awards are a byproduct of doing the right thing for our clients, not the motivation.

I don't like showing work in a meeting that hasn't delivered results. What's the point of that? "Here’s a great piece of work." Well, how did it perform? "The company went out of business." That’s not a success. We're in the business of commerce. We use a great deal of artistry in what we do, but it's not art, it's commerce.

So, being named Creative Company of the Year matters. And if the examples that won the award were also business-driving, it matters even more. That’s why winning in categories like Creative Strategy or Creative Effectiveness the following year may be the most important.

Personally, I have a unique job. I rely heavily on brilliant creative leaders across our agencies. At the centre, it’s just me and a few others: Eric Monnet [chief of staff and global director of creative excellence], Tash Gething [global manager of Creative Excellence], and Norma Pichardo [my executive assistant].

You might think I have a huge central team, but deliberately, I don’t. I want the work to happen in the agencies. I support them directly or collaborate on integrated pitches or assignments. It's often a solitary role, you need to be entrepreneurial and go where the problems and opportunities lie.

We’ve won the Creative Company of the Year title three out of the four years I’ve been here. So yes, it matters. Especially when it serves as a reminder that Mark Read was a CEO who believed in creativity as a growth driver. He invested in people, in creativity, and in AI. Looking back, despite the stock price, I think he will be recognised as a visionary in modern marketing. It’s disappointing that he’s leaving, though it was his choice. He fought the good fight and, in many ways, won.

CS: Do you set specific targets or KPIs around awards?

RR: It's important, and not. If it were the ultimate goal, the stock price would be sky-high and clients would queue up. That’s not reality. Awards help attract talent, sure. There are many great shows. The One Show, to me, remains the pinnacle of creativity.

What sets shows like The One Club apart is that they’re nonprofit and give back to the creative community. Cannes is important, but I also think about nurturing young talent. Education and mentoring matter to me. Certain shows, like D&AD and The One Club, do that well.

That said, we may be the most self-congratulatory industry in history. Perhaps there’s a need to rethink or at least examine how we award ourselves. But for creatives, awards are often the only measurable recognition of their talent. If we can find better ways to recognise creativity, that would be welcome.

You have to be in it to win it. As the iconic Nike ad from the ’96 Olympics said: "You don’t win silver, you lose gold." That obsession with gold, and the under-appreciation of silver and bronze, is real. People cry when they don't win gold. It’s still incredibly hard to win.

I understand the obsession—especially for young creatives. Awards help you advance, get promoted. Maybe it's not ideal, but it's the only system we have. So we aim to be great at it.

CS: Which piece of work are you most proud of from the network?

RR: It’s hard to pick one, but I’d say Powerade's "Pause to Power: The Athletes’ Code" [Open X, led by Ogilvy New York], created by Alice Teruzzi and Francesca Ferracini. Mental health is crucial, and we often dismiss it. When someone says, "I need a break," the knee-jerk reaction is often, "We all do. Get back to work."

But this campaign, and the Coca-Cola Company’s commitment to roll it out across all brands and partnerships, helps normalise taking mental health seriously. When athletes ask for a pause, and people see that, it gives them permission to do the same. That’s powerful.

Another favourite, in terms of innovation, is Ziploc’s "Preserved Promos" [VML New York]. It used expired coupons, which genuinely affect families. It's a purposeful idea, delivered inventively with technology.

Vaseline Verified [Ogilvy], again, a giant brand recognising how consumers are now co-creating your brand, but as a piece of craft…

Then there's "The Shooting" [Grey Mexico] - a gripping three-and-a-half-minute film about journalist safety in one of the world's most dangerous places for photojournalists. The craft was extraordinary. I can't believe it didn’t win Gold.

CS: Why do Dove/Ogilvy campaigns consistently impress juries after 20 years?

RR: That kind of consistency is rare. The Glass Lion might be the most important new category Cannes has introduced. The One Club also introduced the Penta Pencil award, which recognises agency-client partnerships sustained over five years or more. Ted Royer from Droga5 came up with that. Cannes followed suit.

The Dove campaign constantly evolves the same platform, “Real Beauty”, year after year. That’s not easy. Keith Cartwright said if Dove didn’t win the Glass Lion, it would be like Nike not winning a sports marketing award. And he’s right.

Sometimes new awards are needed to ensure work like this is recognised. A two-decade partnership, like Dove and Ogilvy, shows how commitment can drive enormous growth. It influences purchase decisions. It makes people choose Dove because of what it stands for.

L’Oréal is another great example. The "Because you're worth it" line from McCann is iconic. These are the long-term platforms that should be celebrated most. They prove the power of what we do.

How has AI enriched your own work so far? 

I am the number one user of AI in our company, or I was a couple months ago. Let's say I’m now top five. I love it. I think it's the greatest tool that's ever been invented for creative people. What's been pulled out of our industry is time and money, time and money to experiment and fail. And for me, this is what AI does. And as CCO, and I think other CCOs would probably echo this, we don't have a partner. We don't really have people to go to when we're lost, and we are lost often, or at least I am, so now I have a partner who is blunt but nice. Who gives me suggestions, but doesn't tell me what to do. It's the greatest partner ever.

I was very involved in WPP’s AI campaign. I wrote much of the launch ad—a double-page spread in The Times and Wall Street Journal. With help from Corey DuBrowa [Global CEO of Burson] and Mark D’Arcy [soon to be Global CCO at Microsoft AI], I refined it. I even put it through AI for feedback.

One suggestion was that the tone shifted from paragraph one to paragraph three. Initially, I pushed back—writers are precious—but eventually I agreed. I even recorded the copy using WPP’s voice capabilities to hear it read aloud. That helped a lot.

I cut one clever line, “Unless you're living under a rock…” because I didn’t want the tone to feel flippant. I wanted the message to be clear: we’re committed to AI, and even more so to human creativity.

I care deeply about our people, all 100,000 of them. I want them to embrace this tool. Do you know an art director who doesn't use a computer? Of course not. This is the greatest tool ever, certainly in our lifetime.