WPP's Mark Read talks economic recovery, what clients want and how recent hires and restructurings fit its game plan

Mark Read, WPP’s CEO, was in the midst of a three-year transformation plan for the world’s largest holding company—and then the pandemic hit. WPP’s goal of “radical evolution” got rockier as clients across the industry cut spending or sharply switched strategies during lockdown. WPP cut headcount 6.5% and revenue declined 9.3% in 2020. Read, however, has continued on his path of merging agencies, rounding out the holding company’s capabilities and making some surprising high-level hires. Here, he discusses how WPP intends to participate in what he calls “a very strong economic recovery.” The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.