WPP CFO Jennifer Wilson, a key ally of CEO Cindy Rose, is leaving to join Diageo after three years with the ad group; not that long for a CFO but clearly the challenge of her new job at Diageo was too much to resist. Diageo is helmed by Dave Lewis, formerly of Tesco and before that Unilever, who will presumably know Wilson well from the brand business.
At WPP Wilson (above) has helped to steer the recently ailing ad giant into safer waters, still lagging Publicis for the really big accounts but picking up business all the same; most recently WPP Media consolidating DoorDash’s global media duties including sister brands Deliveroo and Wolt in a Mediasense review. And, through all its travails, it still makes a profit.
Diageo’s problems are arguably more fundamental. While WPP has to to deal with ever-mightier procurement, looking to shave up to 30% off costs via AI, Diageo has a stellar line-up of pricey spirit brands that consumers, especially the pesky Gen Z, no longer seem prepared to fork out for. Many eschew alcohol altogether. Lewis is currently faced with a strike in Diageo’s vast Scotch whisky business as he tries to cut jobs to match declining demand. Some might say that brands ain’t what they used to be as today’s consumers can chase cheaper or discounted ones around the internet. Guinness is the one bright spot.
So a big challenge for Wilson and Lewis. She’s staying on at WPP for up to a year to see Rose’s Elevate28 three- year “transformation” mostly through. By then Lewis may have got his way at Diageo but both these former pillar companies of the global business scene have their issues. Ones that clearly require a battle-hardened CFO.
