Latest news with #BrianLesser
Telegraph
13-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
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.
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
WPP replaces GroupM with AI-powered WPP Media
WPP today launched WPP Media , replacing GroupM as its global media company. This move marks a strategic shift to meet rising demand from marketers for fully integrated, AI-driven solutions that connect media, data, and production at scale. Managing over $60 billion in annual media investment , WPP Media works with more than 75% of the world's top advertisers across 80+ markets. WPP Media is the largest media agency network in India. Existing agency brands—Mindshare, Wavemaker, and EssenceMediacom—will remain under the new WPP Media umbrella, continuing to serve clients with dedicated teams and shared access to technology, capabilities, and support services. WPP Media is integrated with WPP's broader global agency network through WPP Open, the company's AI-enabled marketing system. Backed by £300 million in annual investment and leading AI partnerships, WPP Open will power advanced capabilities across creative, data, commerce, production, and media delivery—making it the most comprehensive platform in the industry. WPP Media will enable advertisers to unify their media, data, and production strategies and manage owned, earned, shared, and paid media holistically. The offering includes advanced measurement, analytics, and connected commerce tools to deliver personalisation at scale. As part of its transformation, WPP Media is also investing in future-focused learning and development initiatives to build career pathways and equip employees to lead in the AI era. Brian Lesser, CEO of WPP Media, said: 'Consumers already expect advertising to be relevant and engaging and buying experiences to be seamless; those expectations are only going to accelerate in the age of AI. WPP Media is built for a world in which media is everywhere and in everything. 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 to stay ahead of rapidly changing consumer behavior and unlock the limitless opportunities for growth that AI will create.' Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: 'We believe that WPP is the strongest marketing partner for the world's leading brands in the AI era, where technology and talent converge. The move to WPP Media continues our strategy to simplify and integrate our offer for clients. 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. Our vision for the future is clear – marketing that is informed by data, led by seamlessly connected teams of brilliant people, and full of new opportunities for our clients.'
Wall Street Journal
03-04-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
WPP Buys InfoSum in AI Push
WPP WPP -1.49%decrease; red down pointing triangle said it is buying collaboration platform InfoSum, marking the advertising group's latest move in a string of deals to bolster its artificial-intelligence capabilities. The London-listed ad group said Thursday that InfoSum–which will join its media investment group GroupM–will help it create marketing solutions that are enhanced by AI. InfoSum's cross-cloud data collaboration technology allows companies to connect data sources without moving or exposing data, it said. Chief Executive Lauren Wetzel will remain in the role, WPP added. 'Directly integrating InfoSum's global data network and technology infrastructure will allow our clients to create even more value from their first-party data and enable us to train client AI models against the most data, from the most places, at unprecedented scale and speed,' GroupM's CEO Brian Lesser said. The company said the deal represents a 'major investment' in its artificial-intelligence-driven data offer but didn't disclose financial details. WPP recently expanded its partnership with Heineken using an in-house AI platform for shopper-marketing activities and invested in Stability AI to leverage its models across image, video, 3D, and audio to improve marketing and advertising campaigns. CEO Mark Read said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires that the group is already benefiting from its investments in artificial intelligence and that 2025 is the year of execution. Write to Elena Vardon at
