WPP announced the launch of its AI-driven media company, WPP Media, on Wednesday. WPP Media replaces GroupM as the name of WPP’s global media company.
“While GroupM was built for a time when media scale mattered most, WPP Media reflects the power of AI, data and technology and simpler, more integrated solutions,” WPP CEO Mark Read says.
WPP Media manages more than $60 billion in annual media investment and works with more than 75% of the world’s advertisers in more than 80 markets. Mindshare, Wavemaker and EssenceMediacom will continue to provide clients with dedicated teams as brands within WPP Media, leveraging common capabilities, technology and support functions.
WPP Media is connected with WPP’s wider global agency networks and capabilities through WPP Open – WPP’s AI-enabled marketing system – creating a platform for scaled and integrated creative, production, data, commerce and personalized media delivery services.
WPP Open is backed by £300m of investment each year and partnerships with the leading AI companies, according to the company.
WPP Media’s fully integrated offering aims to enable clients to unify media, data and production and holistically manage their owned, earned, shared and paid activities to deliver personalization at scale.
The company says its services are further enhanced with connected commerce and measurement and analytics capabilities.
“Consumers already expect advertising to be relevant and engaging and buying experiences to be seamless; those expectations are only going to accelerate in the age of AI,” WPP Media CEO Brian Lesser says. “WPP Media is built for a world in which media is everywhere and in everything. By investing in our AI-powered product, integrating our offer with data and technology, and equipping our people with future-facing skills, we’re helping our clients to stay ahead of rapidly changing consumer behavior and unlock the limitless opportunities for growth that AI will create.”
Wednesday’s announcement comes as WPP launches a new cross-channel B2B campaign targeting business leaders and senior marketing decision-makers. The campaign showcases WPP’s AI credentials, its integrated proposition and the advanced capabilities of WPP Open.
The latest launch comes weeks after GroupM North America CEO Sharb Farjami reportedly announced a major restructuring plan during a town hall meeting, revealing that between 40% and 45% of the workforce in the U.S. will be moved to new divisions.
Just days before that announcement, GroupM global CEO Brian Lesser sent an internal memo outlining plans to reduce staff as part of a WPP restructuring effort aimed at simplifying the company’s operating model. With the restructuring plan, WPP individual agencies would house dedicated client teams, but no longer operate as distinct business units with separate P&Ls.
At year-end 2024, GroupM, now WPP Media, had 40,000 employees worldwide. That number represented more than one-third of WPP’s global workforce of 108,044.
Earlier this year, Read had already said in the company’s annual report that 2025 would be a “transition year” for the media investment division under Lesser, who joined the company in September 2024. In January of this year, GroupM also restructured its leadership team, eliminating global CEO positions for individual agencies and appointing Emily Del Greco as global COO.
