We’ve yet to see what Cindy Rose’s reset at WPP is actually going to look like – and. like all such things, it can always be taken over by events – but one aspect of the new line-up, if indeed there’s going to be one, looks like Grey.
Which is not at all how it looked a few months ago as the seemingly unwanted WPP network was divorced from AKQA – which never looked remotely like a good idea – and dumped into Ogilvy, at least from a back office point of view. Added to this its CEO took a new role as a kind of glorified PA to Rose, hardly a gesture of confidence in Grey’s longevity.
But maybe there will be such a thing. Grey hired Helen Rhodes as CCO from BBH and since then the agency has cheerfully been making a noise, latterly by promoting group creative directors Chris Lapham and Aaron McGurk to ECDs, not such a big move on the face of it but hardly worthwhile if the agency is to be orphaned again. Lapham and McGurk (below with Rhodes) produced the excellent Cannes-winning ‘Claustrobars’ campaign for Stella.
CCO Rhodes says: “Chris and Aaron are two exceptional creative forces, and their promotion marks a genuinely exciting moment for the agency. Stepping into the ECD role, a position that plays such a crucial part in shaping our future, they’re poised to push our vision further and raise the bar on the work we produce.
“Being able to promote such standout talent from within Grey London says so much about the strength, depth, and ambition of our creative department. We couldn’t be more thrilled to see them take this next step.”
Sounds like she means it.
