WPP chief executive (CEO) Cindy Rose has unveiled a $676 million (£500 million) annual cost-cutting plan to get the business back on track, reorganizing it around four AI-backed divisions: WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production, and WPP Enterprise Solutions.
The three-year strategic reboot, called “Elevate28,” comes as WPP posted its worst annual financial results since the Covid-19 pandemic, with 2025 revenue less pass-through costs down 5.4% year-on-year to $13.6 billion (£10.1 billion). WPP’s shares were down almost 10% at market open on Thursday (Feb. 26).
On a call with journalists ahead of the network’s annual investor presentation, Rose declared WPP was “no longer a holding company.”
“We’re a single operating company, and our mission is changing. We want to be a trusted growth partner for our clients in the era of AI,” she said.
No specifics on staff cuts
As the ad industry faces layoffs driven by AI pressures and consolidation following the Omnicom-IPG acquisition, WPP’s CEO declined to say how the company’s annual cost-savings target would affect its staff.
WPP’s headcount has already fallen 8.7% in the 12 months ending Dec. 31 2025, leaving 98,655 employees.
“On headcount, I’m not going into specifics today,” Rose said, adding that the company plans to cut duplicate roles and simplify operations in areas like finance, HR, and real estate management.
“Most of these cost savings will be reinvested into high-growth areas of the business, and a lot of that reinvestment will be in talent,” she caveated.
When asked what her message to employees was, Rose said she was “well aware of the risk of transformation fatigue,” and acknowledged it was “anxiety-inducing.”
She continued: “Our plan is designed to get us to the end of the job, if you will, within the next 18 months. So we are not going to draw this out any longer than that.” She added that in her conversations with staff, the “overwhelming sentiment” was one of “excitement for the future.”
‘We’re not sunsetting agency brands’
WPP’s simplified four-pillar structure, powered by its AI platform WPP Open, brings it close in line with rival Publicis Groupe. As part of this, one of the standout announcements from Rose’s strategy reboot was the debut of WPP Creative.
The new unit, led by VML CEO Jon Cook, will see WPP’s creative, PR, and design agency brands — including Ogilvy, VML, and AKQA — unite under a single operating model while retaining their individual branding.
Rose’s predecessor, Mark Read, focused on consolidation. He merged legacy creative shops like VML and Y&R with Wunderman Thompson, and folded media agencies such as Essence and MediaCom into single brands. However, Rose stressed WPP Creative is not following the same path.
