Atifa Silk Rick Boost
Apr 16, 2018

What Sorrell wanted for WPP

Just weeks before resigning as WPP chief, Martin Sorrell talked with Campaign Asia-Pacific about his vision for the holding company he built.

"I don't know if we're at a tipping point or not, but we're at a point where the need for speedy adjustment and change is really important."

Just weeks before his hasty departure WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell told Campaign Asia-Pacific brand director Atifa Silk where he wanted his holding company to go in the next two years.  His answer, which included a further simplification of the verticals and more 'horizontality', indicate Sorrell was far from done with consolidating the firm. 

The man who built a multi-billion dollar marketing communications giant will now pass that job to a successor, one that will be made all the more difficult by rising shareholder pressures.  

While we continue to watch how these latest developments unfold, here is part two of our in-depth chat with Sorrell in the days immediately before he become the target of an in-house investigation for an undisclosed allegation of personal misconduct. 

In this video, Sorrell explains his vision for restructuring the company in a way that "breaks as few eggs as possible" in the process, while comparing WPP with recent changes at Publicis.

"I would like to see it fully integrated," Sorrell elaborated of his short-term vision for WPP.  "Clients aren't interested in the brands."

Source:
Campaign Asia

Related Articles

Just Published

2 days ago

Creative Minds: Jereek Espiritu pushes his ideas to ...

An intervention by a computer repairman drove Jereek Espiritu away from a career flying helicopters to a world of creative leaps and flights of fancy.

2 days ago

UM launches Full Colour Media with a focus on ...

Full Colour Media is underpinned by a body of custom research conducted with more than 10,000 brands and with 5 million data points, culminating in a ‘Brand Patterns’ proprietary model designed to grow and differentiate brands.

2 days ago

Campaign Global Agency of the Year Awards 2024: ...

With the final entry deadline for Agency of the Year Global fast approaching, we speak to judges who share their views on the biggest opportunities and challenges for 2025, and what they hope to see in winning entries.

2 days ago

The 'laziest influencer' makes cleaning effortless—l...

S.C. Johnson's new mold-cleaning campaign features their least energetic spokesperson ever—a sloth whose main qualification is mastering the art of minimal effort.