Martin Sorrell on Challenging the Ad Industry Giants He Helped Create

S4 Capital executive chairman discusses in-housing, zero-based budgeting and reining in Big Tech

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In an industry built on creativity, it’s a testament to both his longevity and ingenuity as a shrewd businessman and negotiator that Martin Sorrell, the former chief executive of WPP, has become synonymous with advertising. And while much has changed over the three decades since Sorrell turned a wire shopping-basket company into an advertising behemoth, after a little more than a year into his new stint as executive chairman of S4 Capital, he’s proving that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks.

Sasha Maslov for Adweek

Ahead of his keynote appearance at Adweek’s NexTech conference program on July 24, the 74-year-old Englishman—honored in his homeland with a 2000 knighthood and a staunch Brexit “remainer”—sat down to discuss how media power dynamics in the digital age have rejiggered spend negotiations, the problems with zero-based budgeting and how in-housing is akin to a “marketing Brexit.” 

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This story first appeared in the July 22, 2019, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.