Here’s a new one in the mealy-mouthed vocabulary of today’s management: ‘sunsetting.’
This is what’s going to happen to WPP’s GroupM brands – chiefly EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and Wavemaker – as GroupM morphs into WPP Media. The brands won’t be the only ones heading into the sunset of course, WPP Media CEO Brian Lesser (below) says he’s set for “difficult conversations” as three go into one.
GroupM employs about 40,000 of WPP’s 100,000 or so people. Now the individual agencies will “house dedicated client teams, but no longer operate as distinct business units” with separate P&Ls. The group will move to a “unified named structure that reflects our commitment to operating as one company.”
So there’ll be lots of departures including, presumably, senior execs, some of whom have voted with their feet already. GroupM, as it still is, accounts for most of WPP’s profit and what little growth it’s shown over the past couple of years so speculation that it might be sold off looks wide of the mark. What would the remainder of WPP contribute?
Lesser’s re-organization (or rationalisation if you prefer) is clearly pivotal to the ad holding company’s future as an independent entity. WPP may also be asking itself how the news leaked on Monday while Lesser says, in his somewhat belated memo to staff: “While you may have seen speculation about our brands in the news, know that you can expect to hear about major business updates directly from me.”
Grip is not exactly the word that springs to mind just now with WPP.
