Business Wire; WPP; Ruobing Su/Business Insider
L to R: Lindsay Pattison, Karen Blackett, Laurent Ezekiel, Christian Juhl.
- The largest ad holding company WPP has lost more than half its market value since 2015 as the ad industry struggles to adapt as consumer behavior has become more digital.
- Mark Read, who became CEO in 2018, succeeding Martin Sorrell, has launched a three-year "radical evolution" turnaround plan that has included closing offices, selling assets, cutting thousands of jobs, and hiring at least 1,000 people by 2021.
- Business Insider spoke to current and former WPP executives to compile a definitive list of the 25 top power players leading Read's efforts to turn the company around.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
When Mark Read became CEO of WPP in 2018, succeeding Martin Sorrell, everyone knew he had a difficult task ahead of him.
The world's biggest ad holding company, which employs more than 130,000 people in over 100 countries and includes some of the best-known ad agencies like Ogilvy and media-buying network GroupM, has lost more than half its value since 2015 as people move away from traditional platforms like print and broadcast TV.
Read immediately began making dramatic changes, including merging agencies, closing offices, selling properties like research firm Kantar, cutting thousands of jobs, hiring a new leadership team, and pledging to hire 1,000 employees by 2021.
Business Insider spoke to current and former WPP executives to compile a definitive list of the 25 most powerful players helping Read turn the industry's biggest network around. The list includes the CEOs of WPP's biggest agencies along with rising stars like:
- Chief client officer Lindsay Pattison, who insiders say is reshaping account teams and working to shake up WPP's dusty image.
- Chief people officer Jaqui Canney, who led HR at Walmart while the retailer adjusted to the rise of Amazon and now oversees WPP's attempts to hire, train, and retain more tech-savvy talent around the world.
- Head of strategic development and partnerships Sanja Partalo, who manages WPP's relationships with platforms like Twitter, Adobe, and Salesforce as well as its multi-million-dollar Google Cloud business.
- Digital agency Essence global CEO Kyoko Matsushita, a former marketer for Sony and Electronic Arts who helped make Asia Pacific Essence's fastest-growing region before stepping up to lead WPP's largest network, GroupM.
Read the rest of the story here: Meet the 25 power players who are trying to turn around WPP, the world's biggest ad holding company
Read more of Business Insider's coverage of WPP here:
- One of advertising's most powerful female executives is leaving ad agency giant WPP. Read CEO Mark Read's memo on the move.
- Read the WPP pitch deck that lays out the biggest ad holding company's plans to return to growth
- Ad holding company WPP closes 2 agencies in its Wunderman Thompson network as the ad industry faces major headwinds
