Three Reasons Why WPP Has Acquired The Rest of T&Pm

Earlier this year, T&Pm was formed out of what was previously The&Partnership and MSix to offer a full-service offer designed to embrace the AI-centric future that the advertising industry is moving towards. Now WPP, which previously owned 70 per cent of the business, has gone all-in, acquiring the rest of the agency to fit within the holding company.

Founded by Johnny Hornby and his partners in 2001, the agency has grown to employ around 1,800 people in 42 locations, while servicing clients such as Amazon, Argos, British Gas, EA, Mars, NatWest, News UK and Toyota.

Earlier in November, the agency announced the appointment of a new UK chief executive with the hiring of Victoria Appleby, head of sales at Channel 4, joining in January 2025.

Speaking to Creative Salon earlier this year, Sarah Golding, previously global CEO for T&Pm outlined why it had made the change.

“To make the most of the potential of AI, we need to have shared processes, data, and tools. A siloed relay race between creative and media leads to missed opportunities, and reduced effectiveness,” she said. “We firmly believe that the agency world can never be siloed again, it just doesn’t make sense to separate creative and media – you need a single team to provide a lens on both.”

Golding has since become a partner of T&Pm with global responsibilities.

Three reasons why WPP has made the move to take full control of the business

1. WPP has been evolving to become “an AI-powered marketing operating system” over the last two years, with WPP Open the central focus for developing models and growth solutions for clients using the technology. The addition of T&Pm in full will further strengthen that mission as it has already been utilising its AI tools within its content operations.

2. WPP chief executive Mark Read revealed that when he initially showed Johnny Hornby the WPP Open operating system and its potential for marketers, he immediately recognised its transformational potential and became an advocate for the offering. T&Pm will now be used as “a great example” of what can be achieved when an agency places AI at the heart of its work for clients, Read adds.

3. As it seeks routes for growth, WPP has shown that it believes the fast-paced adoption of AI can help it challenge its network competitors for new business as well as form a compelling differentiation with that offering. “Now, AI is transforming the speed at which we can partner with clients to create growth and WPP’s early investment in Open gives us a big advantage,” outlines Hornby while discussing the latest transaction.