Agency news you need to know this week

Hello there, and welcome back to Agency Brief. This week, we’ve got an interview with WPP CEO Mark Read, plus plenty more. Want to be included in a future edition? Reach out to ewan.larkin@adage.com and brian.bonilla@adage.com for consideration. Inside WPP’s results WPP reported weaker-than-anticipated results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2024, sending the British ad giant’s shares plummeting on Thursday. Adjusted sales, excluding pass-through costs, will be flat or shrink as much as 2% for 2025 compared to a year ago, according to WPP. Speaking with Ad Age after the results were released Thursday morning, CEO Mark Read noted that some of WPP’s competitors have also softened their guidance for 2025 versus 2024. Read also voiced concerns about consumer spending given economic uncertainty, specifically citing tariffs. Read attributed the fourth quarter and full-year results in part to a slowdown in project-based work, especially at creative shops, before adding that he expects the company’s performance to rebound in the second half of 2025. While there’s “always some tidying up that we do,” he said that WPP has “no plans to sell creative agencies or other assets.” Also read: Stagwell forecasts 8% net revenue growth for 2025 Read pointed to media unit GroupM as helping fuel the company’s turnaround, though he was light on details outside of reiterating new CEO Brian Lesser’s plan, which hinges on advances in AI, data and introducing more principal-based media models. Based on 2024 worldwide revenue, WPP kept its position as the world’s biggest agency holding company. WPP ranks second among agency holding companies, behind Publicis Groupe, based on 2024 worldwide net revenue, which WPP refers to as revenue less pass-through costs. If Omnicom Group completes its proposed acquisition of Interpublic Group of Cos., the combined entity would displace WPP as the largest agency holding company based on revenue. (Omnicom doesn’t disclose net revenue.) Asked about whether he’s focused on the No. 1 spot, Read said his concern is on best serving clients. “It’s very much about the quality of work that we do, not our size,” he said. Tracking the latest Omnicom-IPG merger news and analysis ICYMI Here are a few of Ad Age’s biggest agency stories this week: Indie shop notches win for new beer brand Pabst Brewing Co., the company that makes Pabst Blue Ribbon, has hired independent agency Familiar Creatures to launch its newest product, a light beer called Pabst Light, in April. Familiar Creatures, which won the business following a competitive review, will serve as the beer brand’s agency of record and manage strategy, creative and social. The shop also works with clients such as Crunch Fitness and Duke's Mayo. Agency Review Tracker Stay up to date with the latest account reviews Click here Flower Shop is expanding the team New York-based indie agency Flower Shop appointed Allie Lightcap to the new role of executive director, business. Lightcap, who was previously a business director at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, will oversee the shop’s client accounts, which include Fanatics, Via Carota, Almave Spirits, PWHL and C4 Energy. Quote of the week: “What we’re seeing is that some brands have lost the courage to live their values in fear of being called out by conservative activists.”—Stacey Wade, CEO and executive creative director at Nimbus, on how DEI cutbacks are impacting marketing and agency strategies. Just briefly Mini hired Jung von Matt Group to serve as the lead creative shop for international campaigns. Mini formerly worked with Anomaly. VML hired Paul Randall as chief delivery officer for North America, a new role in which he will oversee the agency’s program delivery organization. Randall joins from R/GA, where he was VP and managing director, program management, product experiences U.S. for the Google business. Revolt named Freya Williams as its first chief strategy officer for North America. She was most recently North America CEO at Futerra, a sustainability consultancy. Team Epiphany launched ConTExt, a platform where it will post reports on how “data, culture, and our creative ecosystem connect with each other.”

Agency news you need to know this week

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