End of an Era: GroupM is retired as WPP attempts to usher in a new age with WPP Media

Advertising holding company WPP has retired the name GroupM, its global media investment arm, and unveiled a new moniker: WPP Media. The announcement, made May 28, signals more than just a name change. It reflects a deeper transformation underway at the media powerhouse, one that aims to consolidate capabilities, simplify operations and reassert leadership in a rapidly evolving, AI-driven advertising landscape.

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“WPP Media is built for a world in which media is everywhere and in everything,” said Brian Lesser, the newly installed global CEO of WPP Media. “By investing in our AI-powered product, integrating our offer with data and technology, and equipping our people with future-facing skills, we’re helping our clients stay ahead of rapidly changing consumer behavior.”

WPP Media now manages more than $60 billion in annual media investment across 80 markets and works with over 75% of the world’s leading advertisers. While legacy agency brands like Mindshare, Wavemaker, and EssenceMediacom will remain, they will operate under the unified umbrella of WPP Media, sharing technology, talent, and data platforms.

A Legacy Reimagined

The rebrand caps off two decades of expansion, consolidation, and reinvention for GroupM, a unit formed in 2003 from the merger of WPP-owned media agencies Mediaedge:cia and Mindshare Worldwide. Irwin Gotlieb, an industry titan, served as GroupM’s first CEO, ushering in a period of growth and strategic acquisitions that would define the 2000s.

By 2005, MediaCom had joined the fold and WPP's ambitions extended firmly into Europe under the leadership of executives like Stephen Allan and Kelly Clark. The late 2000s brought more bold moves, including the establishment of Maxus in 2008 and the launch of the M/SIX joint venture with creative agency CHI & Partners.

From left to right: (Mark Read and Sir Martin Sorrell)

Then came the decade of acceleration. Between 2012 and 2018, WPP’s media operations became the crown jewel of its empire. MediaCom overtook rivals to become the world’s largest media agency in 2015. Acquisitions like the digital-first agency Essence, and the birth of Wavemaker from the merger of MEC and Maxus, signaled a push into digital transformation. But the success was not without turbulence. In 2018, long-serving WPP founder Sir Martin Sorrell exited under the cloud of a misconduct probe, an allegation he denied, leaving the company at an inflection point.

A Strategic Shake-Up

Under new leadership, including CEO Mark Read and later GroupM’s Christian Juhl, the post-Sorrell years were defined by structural reform. Agencies like Essence and MediaCom were consolidated, and divisions like Finecast, Xaxis, and GroupM Services were unified under the data-focused entity GroupM Nexus. Even the legacy of M/SIX was reimagined, as the agency rebranded to MSix & Partners.

But the shifts were not just structural. The business model itself was overhauled: in 2023, GroupM transitioned to a country-level profit-and-loss system to drive accountability and local autonomy. At the same time, the company grappled with controversy, including a high-profile bribery scandal in China that led to executive terminations and a trial in late 2024.

Leadership changes came fast and frequently. Christian Juhl stepped down in mid-2024, succeeded by Brian Lesser, formerly CEO of InfoSum and GroupM North America. Kate Rowlinson was appointed as UK CEO. By March 2025, a wave of executive departures—including EssenceMediacom’s global CEO Nick Lawson and global COO Frances Ralston-Good—suggested a clean-slate approach was underway.

In April, WPP took another bold step by acquiring InfoSum, the privacy-first data platform previously chaired by Lesser, further embedding data intelligence into its media DNA.

WPP Media: Built for the AI Era

With the May 28 rebrand, WPP signaled that GroupM—a construct designed for scale—is no longer fit for purpose in an AI-driven world where integration, automation, and personalization are paramount.

WPP Media is positioned as a centralized, tech-forward organization, tightly integrated with WPP Open, the company’s AI-enabled marketing system. Backed by £300 million in annual investment and partnerships with leading AI firms, WPP Open aims to offer end-to-end marketing—from creative production to media optimization—at scale.

“While GroupM was built for a time when media scale mattered most, WPP Media reflects the power of AI, data and technology and simpler, more integrated solutions,” said Mark Read, WPP CEO.

The newly formed WPP Media will also double down on internal development. A major push is underway to invest in training and upskilling staff to prepare for what Lesser calls “the jobs of the future.”

WPP’s media transformation arrives as marketers face unprecedented complexity: a fragmented consumer landscape, crumbling third-party data, rising demands for ROI, and the transformative potential of generative AI. By simplifying its media business and putting AI at its core, WPP hopes to turn those challenges into competitive advantage.

A New Chapter, With Familiar Players

Though WPP Media marks a departure from GroupM’s legacy, the foundational agency brands, Mindshare, Wavemaker, EssenceMediacom, aren’t going away. Rather, they will continue to serve clients with bespoke teams while drawing from the same pool of tools, talent, and technology.

As WPP launches a new B2B campaign to promote its AI capabilities and WPP Media’s integrated proposition, it’s clear the company is betting big on its ability to lead marketing into its next frontier.

If GroupM was the engine that powered media buying through the digital revolution, WPP Media is the vehicle built to navigate what comes next: an intelligent, automated and deeply personalized media future.