French ad giant threatens to sue British rival over ‘falsehoods'
A French advertising giant has threatened to sue WPP after accusing the British company of spreading 'falsehoods' about its business.
The Telegraph has learnt that Publicis Groupe wrote to Mark Read, the WPP chief executive, last week threatening legal action in an escalating row over advertising quality.
One source described the letter, which was also sent to Philip Jansen, the WPP chairman, and Brian Lesser, the WPP Media boss, as 'aggressive'.
It was sent days before WPP lost its $1.7bn (£1.3bn) Mars contract to Publicis and before the London advertising giant announced Mr Read would step down as chief executive at the end of the year.
The row relates to a research report commissioned by WPP that accused Epsilon, a marketing technology company owned by Publicis, of selling low-quality advertising spots.
The report, which WPP distributed among clients, including Mars, found that more than a quarter of 500,000 sample impressions came from so-called 'made for advertising sites', which are built primarily to drive advertising clicks.
The research, first reported by Ad Age, prompted a furious response from Publicis, which branded the results 'fake'.
The company said: 'We don't normally respond to [WPP's] desperate moves, as it doesn't help our industry ... But in the face of such obvious falsehoods, we can't stay silent.
'WPP continues to claim innovation, this time by inventing their own 'audits' of their competitors. They're doing it in a domain where they've recently excelled – throwing mud at their peers rather than focusing on their clients and their people.'
WPP said: 'WPP Media is committed to quality and accuracy in everything we do. Our analysis was used to brief client leaders in response to client questions.
'We used a robust methodology grounded in established industry principles and designed to provide an objective assessment of inventory quality. We stand by the integrity of our methods and the findings presented.'
WPP and Publicis both declined to comment on the letter.
The row underscores the increasingly bitter rivalry between the two groups as the advertising industry grapples with an uncertain future in an era dominated by technology giants such as Meta and Google, as well as the rise of artificial intelligence.
Tom Denford, the chief executive of ID Comms, said the row was 'indicative of the state of the industry and the pressure on these organisations'.
Paris-based Publicis, which owns agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, last year overtook WPP as the world's largest advertising company by revenues. Two other major advertising groups – Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group – have agreed to merge in a $30bn deal that will create a major new player in the market.
WPP on Monday confirmed that Mr Read will step down at the end of the year after more than three decades in the business.
The announcement came amid growing scrutiny over client losses, though sources close to Mr Read said he wanted to announce his departure ahead of Cannes Lions, the annual industry conference that begins next week.
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