Advertising
Global Mergers, Local Ripples: Consolidations reshape India's ad land as clients seek 'single-window' partners
End of an era: Mark Read's legacy and the uncharted future for WPP India
In 2025, WPP lost its crown as the world’s largest ad network, with major clients like Coca-Cola and Paramount walking away. Employee unrest and plummeting market value added to the mounting pressure on Global CEO Mark Read.
Read took over in 2018, in the shadow of WPP founder Martin Sorrell’s dramatic exit. His mandate was clear: simplify, stabilize, and modernize the group. Under his leadership, WPP merged iconic agency brands like JWT and Y&R into VML, and restructured its media portfolio with the creation of EssenceMediacom and the recent rebranding of GroupM as WPP Media. Investments in AI such as the acquisition of InfoSum and the development of WPP Open signaled a future-facing approach.
WPP CEO Mark Read’s decision to step down by the end of this year ends a seven-year tenure as WPP boss defined by deep structural changes, consolidation and an aggressive pivot toward AI and data-led marketing. While Read called it a “privilege” to lead the world’s largest advertising network — until recently, industry insiders say his departure signals far more than just a leadership transition. It may well be a moment of reckoning, especially for WPP’s future in India.
The Global Picture: Retreat, Not Renewal?
Read took over in 2018, in the shadow of WPP founder Martin Sorrell’s dramatic exit. His mandate was clear: simplify, stabilize and modernize the group. Under his leadership, WPP merged iconic agency brands like JWT and Y&R into VML, and restructured its media portfolio with the creation of EssenceMediacom and the recent rebranding of GroupM as WPP Media. Investments in AI such as the acquisition of InfoSum and the development of WPP Open signaled a future-facing approach.
But these moves have not translated into growth. In 2025, WPP was dethroned by Publicis Groupe as the world’s largest ad network by revenue. Coca-Cola’s $700 million US media business moved to Publicis. Paramount walked away after a two-decade relationship. Employees revolted against Read’s rigid return-to-office policy. Shareholder pressure mounted as WPP’s market cap sank to a four-year low.
In the words of Naresh Gupta, co-founder of Bang in the Middle, “WPP is definitely in deep trouble. The share price is falling, market valuation is down and they have private equity investments — I’m sure those investors are putting pressure. As an organization, they seem reactive, knee-jerk. Nothing they’re doing right now seems to fundamentally alter the course of the company. It’s a mess. And when that happens, the CEO usually takes the fall.”
Mark Read’s exit signals deeper strategic fatigue, not just routine change, say industry observers.
They highlight it's a bit strange that the exit is announced after all the downsizing and rightsizing has been done already globally. "Seems like he played the bad cop for all exits before he was asked to exit. I don’t believe in the AI story,” said Shubho Sengupta, Digital Marketer.
India’s Moment of Flux
The tremors are being felt in India too. Though WPP has historically dominated the local market led by the creative weight of Ogilvy and the scale of GroupM, there’s growing unease about whether that dominance is sustainable in a new advertising world.
“WPP India doesn’t have the kind of leadership it once did. It used to be unchallenged. Now, with Omnicom-IPG, Publicis and Havas growing stronger, and after the CCI crisis, WPP needs to completely rethink its India strategy. It’s in an existential crisis,” added Gupta.
Leadership ambiguity is adding to the uncertainty. According to multiple insiders, reports of impending leadership changes in WPP India are causing jitters.
Tarun Rai, former Chairman and Group CEO of Wunderman Thompson South Asia and currently Co-Chairman, Start Design Group says, “With constant mergers, or now more turmoil with a change of global leadership, agencies start to focus internally. Everyone, including the leaders of many agencies in the group, will be insecure and wondering who the new leader is going to be and what new strategies are going to be rolled out. In a client-facing business like ours, getting too internally focussed and taking the eye off the clients' business and issues, is a real danger. Clients can lose patience, revenue can get affected.”
Legacy of Consolidation or Collapse?
For many veterans, Read’s tenure will be remembered not for bold reinvention but for what was lost in the name of simplification.
“Mark Read's task after the departure of Sir Martin Sorrell was to heal. He however decided to trim - and that became the hallmark of his innings. The WPP group has remained in perpetual turmoil throughout his tenure, losing its long reigning supremacy. So Read will be remembered more as a destroyer than as a builder. Fewer P&Ls haven't really benefitted the business. I started my advertising career at Thompson. You couldn't believe they killed the brand. VML is not a fraction of the juggernaut JWT was. So the rejigging has only been about value destruction,” stated Sandeep Goyal, Managing Director at Rediffusion.
That emotional undercurrent — the feeling of legacy lost is echoed across geographies, especially in India, where many agencies have seen their identities diluted.
In India, Mark Read leaves a more operationally streamlined but creatively diluted structure. "Agencies like JWT (I refuse to call it VML) are shadows of their earlier selves,” said Sengupta who has spent over a decade at top agencies like Ogilvy, JWT, Leo Burnett, Contract, and Rediffusion Y&R.
“The consolidations look efficient on paper, but on ground in India, they were based on buying up strongly growing ad agencies (i.e., the competition) that did things very well in order to keep advertising agency fees artificially high. Finally, the founders left once the payouts ended, along with core relationships,” added Sengupta.
What Kind of Leader Does India Need?
The uncertainty now shifts to succession. Not just globally, but within India. And who gets chosen at the top may influence what kind of leadership filters down to key markets.
“The kind of leader we get in a local market depends on who we get to lead WPP globally. Culture flows from the top. We need leaders who focus on the right things. We had a very entrepreneurial culture which slowly gave way to a more bureaucratic one. We need leaders to provide vision and inspiration. We need leaders with drive and ambition. To 'grow’ the business. In my opinion a strategy of constant mergers is not very inspiring. Nor very ambitious.” said Rai.
Some argue it might be time for a clean slate — not just in London, but across WPP’s top ranks globally and in India.
“I believe the leadership team in India must have had an inkling about this a year ago. They likely foresaw the future of WPP amid declining revenues and shareholder value — they saw it coming. The local leadership will now try to hold on to their positions under the WPP umbrella. After all, it’s a lucrative place to be, with a large workforce under their command. But WPP needs fresh ideas, and more agile, hands-on leadership,” said Sengupta.
The Bottom Line
Mark Read’s departure doesn’t just close a chapter for WPP; it throws open questions about the identity, leadership and future-readiness of the world’s once-dominant ad empire. As India’s market becomes more competitive, and clients seek relevance over legacy, the kind of leadership that emerges in the coming months — both globally and locally will determine if WPP can recover, or be remembered as a giant that shrank itself.
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