WPP’s GroupM restructures as new CEO Lesser rings the changes
US presidents make much of their first 100 days in office (typically Donald Trump began changing his world on Day 1) and new GroupM global CEO Brian Lesser has unveiled elements of his plan to restore what is still the world’s biggest agency media operation to its former pre-eminence.
Out go the three global CEOs of big networks EssenceMediacom, Wavemaker and Mindshare (although they’re staying in different roles), on her way is new global COO Emily Del Greco, a partner at Mckinsey and a former senior exec at S4 Capital’s Mighty Hive and Google. It seems reasonable to anitcipate more changes (possibly departures) when Del Greco (below) joins.
Del Greco, who also ran her own consultancy, wasn’t always a fan of agencies, telling Business Insider once that they had “lost that position of trust. Some bad actors ruined it for everyone, and we’re still feeling it today. There’s a need to have an honest broker.”
Toby Jenner, the current global CEO of Wavemaker and global president of clients at Group M, becomes global chief business officer and Adam Gerhart at Mindshare, becomes global chief client officer. Nick Lawson stepped down from the same role at EssenceMediacom late last year, which looks a wise move.
Lesser, a digital specialist, wrote on LinkedIn: “My first 100 days back at Group M have been remarkable – and today’s leadership announcement makes it even more special.
“Together with our full leadership team, we’re building something extraordinary: seamless global solutions that unlock unprecedented value for our clients and partners.”
To the uninitiated this looks very much like rival Publics’ celebrated ‘Power of One,’ centralising the most important functions at HQ. Since its inception under Sir Martin Sorrell GroupM has been run by a collection of national and international account barons, deploying its scale to (purportedly) get the best deals for the biggest clients, even going to-to-toe with the tech platforms (Sorrell famously described Google as a “frenemy.”)
That model now appears outdated (the platforms won hands down) and GroupM is clearly embarked on what, for some, will be a painful restructure. Even in the early days of the AI era it still employs 44,000 people including numerous bosses.
Prepare for more financial mis-direction as things combine and Brian attempts to uncover a big media deal, which is the only thing an external hire at this level, could do. There is no way for her to impactfully wrap her arms around the scale, scope and USP for this “group”.
No wonder WPP struggle when they change the OD and keep all the costs of executives on inflated packages. These guys will be demotivated and should simply have been let go. Until a new CEO arrives to take a knife to the excess number of senior execs, they will will get nowhere.