WPP Launches 'Elevate28' to Simplify Agency Structure
Global advertising giant WPP is cutting layers of bureaucracy and complexity with its new "Elevate28" strategy. The goal is to create fewer, more focused client teams and standardize processes to deliver "platformized" offerings that can scale globally. The move mirrors SaaS playbooks by seeking to codify and modularize services for efficiency.
The "Elevate28" strategy, led by CEO Cindy Rose, is a direct response to a challenging period for WPP, which saw a 5.4% drop in like-for-like revenue in 2025. The plan aims to generate £500 million (roughly $677 million) in annualized cost savings by 2028, with a significant portion to be reinvested into high-growth areas like AI, data, and technology. This transformation comes with an anticipated £400 million in restructuring costs over two years. The overhaul will restructure WPP from a holding company into a single operating company with four main units: WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production, and WPP Enterprise Solutions. These units will operate across four geographic regions: North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC. The move is designed to stabilize the business in 2026, build momentum and return to organic growth in 2027, and accelerate growth from 2028 onward. This restructuring continues a broader trend of simplification at WPP. It follows the 2023 merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson to create VML, which became the industry's largest creative agency with over 30,000 employees. Similarly, communications agencies Hill & Knowlton and BCW were merged to form Burson, a move set to be operational by July 2024. Central to the "Elevate28" strategy is the integration of artificial intelligence through WPP's proprietary platform, WPP Open. CEO Cindy Rose has stated the goal is to become the "trusted growth partner for the world's leading brands in the era of AI." The company is also making strategic investments, including a partnership with generative AI pioneer Stability AI, to bolster its AI-driven content solutions. The plan explicitly aims to tackle what the company describes as "excessive organisational complexity" and "inconsistent strategic execution." By creating a more integrated model, WPP intends to provide a more seamless offering to clients, with media and data at the core of its proposition. This mirrors moves by competitors like Omnicom, Publicis, and Dentsu, which have also been consolidating their agency structures to better serve global clients.
