Reuters
Mark Read, CEO of WPP Group.
- WPP, the world's largest ad holding company, has struggled to keep up as advertisers overwhelmingly shift their spending into digital.
- In a presentation to investors Jan. 15, WPP CEO Mark Read and other executives laid out their plans to turn the company around.
- Read plans to continue consolidating ad agencies while deepening WPP's business relationships with tech companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon.
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The holding companies that have dominated the multi-billion-dollar global advertising business for decades are under attack from all sides as clients demand more for their money and shift spending to platforms like Facebook, Amazon, and Google, whose plans to kill third-party tracking cookies in two years will curtail advertisers' targeting abilities.
WPP, the largest of those holding companies, is one year into a 3-year turnaround plan. CEO Mark Read briefed investors and analysts at its London headquarters Jan. 15, showing a deck detailing steps he has taken to address these changes as well as new initiatives and plans for the year to come.
Analysts issued mixed reactions after the presentation. Morningstar said its overall outlook on WPP remained positive. Bank of America downgraded its rating to "underperform."
A WPP spokesperson declined to comment.