WPP CEO Outlines the Potential for AI and Influencer Growth

Despite the lessening of spend by tech clients as well as macroeconomic frailties, WPP, which owns agencies such as Ogilvy, VMLY&R, MediaCom and Wunderman Thompson, reported organic growth of 2.9% in the first quarter, with revenue, before costs, of $4.32B. This was buoyed by the performance of its media business GroupM and growth in the influencer marketing and artificial intelligence spaces. During the first quarter of 2023, the agency network picked up $1.5 billion of new business including deals with Ford (Social Media), Adobe (global media) Lloyds (CRM) Intercontinental Hotel & Resorts (global experience), Swissport (PR – Switzerland) and BackMarket (Media U.K./U.S.). GroupM saw growth of 6.1% during the first three months of the year while the network also reported growth across all of the segments with its creative agency up by 0.7%, PR agencies by 2.2% and specialist agencies by 1.9%. This new explosion of generative AI is allowing us to use it much more creatively to produce many different versions of creative.—Mark Read, CEO, WPP Overall headcount decreased by about 1,000 people; 800 full-time staff and 200 freelance. Mark Read, chief executive of WPP, told Adweek the company's new business performance will “remain strong” and is predicting annual growth of between 3% to 5%. That confidence comes partially from "good results" reported by Google, Microsoft and Meta in recent days, after a tough 2022. He expects the tech sector to "stabilize to some extent" in coming quarters. The influencer opportunity In recent weeks, WPP has acquired two creator/influencer agencies to bolster its operations in that space as a result of increasing client interest as they see more young people spend their time interacting and watching content on social media platforms. "Clients need to reach them and it’s been pretty clear for many years that traditional creative formats don’t work in social media and that working with influencers can really amplify client’s budgets," Read told Adweek. WPP already has influencer specialties within Ogilvy, and it acquired Village Marketing, part of Wunderman Thompson, in 2022. During the first quarter of this year, WPP acquired Goat and Obviously, adding more than 250 people. "Clients realize they need to do it, but they've really struggled to figure out how to scale their spending and I think that's the problem that these acquisitions are solving for clients—the ability to really scale spending in influencer marketing to succeed on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts,” Read explained. Despite AI Skeptics, Early Adopter Arthur Sadoun Says No One Is Laughing Now Read believes that investment in the creator economy will come from clients' media budgets although he expects there will be "shifts" to that trend as interest grows. “We're going to help them figure out how to engage with influencers to make their marketing more effective,” he said, citing a campaign created for TurboTax featuring Mr Beast which reached 118 million people with the brand message integrated into the campaign. He also spoke about working with 700 micro-influencers to amplify the reach of a recent Coca-Cola campaign that featured model Gigi Hadid. “Working with a broader set of influencers amplifies the reach and provides more legitimacy and credibility to the campaign,” he added. AI is driving change Read says the increased use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is "fundamentally changing" not just client work but how WPP agencies operate. In the past, it had been most used in the production and media businesses. Read cited recent creative campaigns for plant-based meat brand NotCo, the Iran Democracy Council and Mondelez-owned Lacta. WPP's production house Hogarth worked with Mondelez and was able to deliver "a greater volume of assets." “What this new explosion of generative AI is doing is allowing us to use it much more creatively to produce many different versions of creative," Read said.

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WPP CEO Mark Read Outlines the Potential for AI and Creator Economy Growth

The agency network revealed 2.9% organic growth during Q1

Stephen Lepitak

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