Michele Majidi
Researcher
WPP- statistics & facts
There can only be one winner in the advertising world, and WPP is the one. The London-based media holding ranked as the largest advertising company in the world in 2023 based on revenue. The company came ahead of the remaining “big five” - Omnicom Group, the Interpublic Group of Companies, Publicis, and Dentsu – and reported a revenue of 14.9 billion British pounds in 2023. Despite the company’s slight revenue increase that year, profit plummeted from 775.4 million pounds to 197.2 million, clients cut back on spending across the ad industry.
However, independent reports highlighted the company’s professional relations with clients that have opposing climate policy advocacy goals, such as the Clean Energy Council and oil and gas entities Woodside and Senex, which have been found to lobby against renewable energy policies.
Parallel to its sustainability steps, WPP also committed to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across its workforce and leadership. Over half of WPP employees worldwide were women in 2023, while twelve company leaders were commended in the YouTube-supported ‘Empower Role Model Lists.’
While WPP has made progress in its DEI initiatives, the company also faced staff pushback in early 2025 over a mandate requiring employees to attend the office four days a week starting in April – the strictest such return to office (RTO) policy among its competitors.
The following year is shaping up to be a pivotal one for WPP, as it looks to execute its AI strategy, boost revenue growth, and maintain its position at the top of an increasingly competitive arena.
Operations sharpened across the board
In the last two years, WPP has worked on simplifying its structure, with its PR and marketing agency holdings being restructured into six key brands – AKQA, Ogilvy, VML, Hogarth, GroupM, and Burson. Supervised by CEO Mark Read, the reshuffle’s aim is to deliver substantial cost savings from 2025 onwards. WPP ranked fourth among its competitors in the acquisition game in 2023, with seven deals completed that year. In January 2024, WPP announced it would merge its two largest communications agencies Hill & Knowlton and BCW. In early 2025, amid Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. Presidency, Read announced the company was keeping “a watching eye” on the possibility of moving its primary listing from London to New York.Making strides in sustainability and DEI, ruffling feathers with RTO mandate
In recent years, WPP has made progress in decreasing its carbon footprint, significantly lowering its greenhouse gas emissions and aiming to reach net zero in their value chain by 2030. The company launched a Green Claims guide, aiming to let its brands make effective statements regarding their sustainability track record and goals. This move was reinforced by GroupM’s media carbon calculator in 2023, enabling clients to incorporate emission data into their media planning.However, independent reports highlighted the company’s professional relations with clients that have opposing climate policy advocacy goals, such as the Clean Energy Council and oil and gas entities Woodside and Senex, which have been found to lobby against renewable energy policies.
Parallel to its sustainability steps, WPP also committed to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across its workforce and leadership. Over half of WPP employees worldwide were women in 2023, while twelve company leaders were commended in the YouTube-supported ‘Empower Role Model Lists.’
While WPP has made progress in its DEI initiatives, the company also faced staff pushback in early 2025 over a mandate requiring employees to attend the office four days a week starting in April – the strictest such return to office (RTO) policy among its competitors.
AI plans in full gear
WPP is doubling down on AI to drive growth. In early 2024, it pledged 318 million U.S. dollars annually to support its AI strategy, outpacing both IPG and Publicis. WPP's AI involvement stretches back to 2014, when it built AI optimization technology for Tesco. In 2023, the group partnered with NVIDIA to develop an AI-driven content engine. This led to the launch of a Production Studio the following year, creating 3D worlds to enhance digital campaigns.The following year is shaping up to be a pivotal one for WPP, as it looks to execute its AI strategy, boost revenue growth, and maintain its position at the top of an increasingly competitive arena.
