The markets are getting it wrong on AI risk Opinion Concerns that AI will make entire sectors obsolete are overblown. These are not companies encountering AI for the first time, yet markets appear to be pricing them as if adaptation is impossible, says Michael Clark The repeated sell-offs triggered by new AI product launches suggest markets are struggling to distinguish between headlines and reality. Each [...]
World’s largest ad agency bucks grad hiring slowdown – ‘We have to train the next gen’ Media The world’s largest advertising agency is hiring more graduate roles than ever in the face of artificial intelligence’s rise, gearing junior training to be more focused on client management, its UK media boss has said, bucking a global slowdown in junior white-collar employment. Niel Bornman, UK chief executive of Publicis Media, said the proliferation of [...]
WPP shares plunge again on halved dividend and strategic review Media Shares in advertising giant WPP dropped by as much as 4.7 per cent on Thursday morning after it revealed it would launch a strategic review and halve its interim dividend amid falling profit and stagnant revenue. The embattled media group, which owns major agencies like global PR shop Burson and creative juggernaut Ogilvy, revealed its [...]
Are we witnessing the slow death of advertising holding companies? May 5, 2025 The feted founder of AKQA, Ajaz Ahmed, has launched a new agency that promises to take on the “slow, bureaucratic” ad groups that since the pandemic have have been labouring under stagnant revenues and falling share prices. Ali Lyon asks: “Are those holding companies on borrowed time?” Ajaz Ahmed is not a man to shy [...]
WPP bets big on AI to regain industry leadership March 22, 2025 Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just reshaping industries, it’s upending them. Nowhere is this more evident than in advertising, where AI is reshaping how brands create, deliver and optimise campaigns. While many firms are still finding their feet with AI, WPP is claiming it has hit the ground running. For the global communications giant, the AI [...]
WPP staff made to work from the office four days a week January 7, 2025 Staff at FTSE 100 ad giant WPP will be made to come into the office four days a week under a new policy announced to staff just weeks before it is set to lose its crown as the world’s largest advertising firm to Publicis. Boss Mark Read confirmed the policy change at the London-listed media [...]
WPP could lose crown as largest ad agency amid Omnicom and Interpublic merger December 9, 2024 FTSE 100 giant WPP is under threat of losing its spot as the largest advertising company in the world for the first time in decades as American rivals Omnicom and Interpublic consider a merger. Over the weekend, news emerged that Omnicom and Interpublic are discussing terms of a $30bn (£23.6bn) merger. This could catapult the [...]
London’s most respected ad guru on why data giants Publicis and WPP have it wrong May 13, 2024 The former chief of operations at Publicis says brands that still launch with a TV ad and a poster blows his mind.