Bold truth: the market is changing fast, and WPP is rewriting its playbook to stay ahead by simplifying, integrating, and accelerating growth in an AI-driven era.
Here’s a fresh, user-friendly rewrite of the core content, expanded where helpful to aid understanding while preserving all key information and intent.
Strategy refresh and 2025 results overview
WPP has announced a multi-year plan to simplify how it serves clients, unify its operations, and restore growth to deliver long-term value for clients, talent, and shareholders. New leadership conviction after six months as CEO reinforces a belief that WPP is exceptional, even as clients face uncertainty, AI-driven disruption, and macro volatility. The plan is designed to turn this challenge into opportunity by becoming a trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands in the age of AI.
Key elements of Elevate28
WPP is transitioning from a traditional holding company to a single, streamlined organization composed of four operating units across four regions, all connected by the WPP Open platform. The four units are: WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production, and WPP Enterprise Solutions. The four regions are North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC. The core mission is clear: help top brands navigate change, seize opportunities, and deliver growth through AI-enabled transformations.
Phased approach to stabilise, build, and accelerate
- Phase 1: Stabilise in 2026 by stabilising new business performance, cutting costs, and rationalising the portfolio.
- Phase 2: Build in 2027 by embedding a transformed go-to-market and an integrated offering across media, creative, production, and enterprise solutions, with a return to organic growth targeted in 2027.
- Phase 3: Accelerate from 2028 onward by becoming a simpler, lower-cost, AI-enabled business recognized as a trusted growth partner, with faster margin expansion and stronger cash conversion.
Financial safeguards and priorities
- The plan targets £500 million of gross annualised cost savings by 2028, funded by approximately £400 million of cash costs spread over two years.
- A significant portion of savings will be reinvested in high-growth areas, such as media, enterprise solutions, and technology-enabled capabilities, while preserving an investment-grade balance sheet.
- Portfolio focus will reduce leverage and free up capital for growth initiatives. Capital allocation will balance sustaining dividends with strategic acquisitions only where they’re more efficient than building internal capabilities.
Elevate28: how it creates value
Deliver superior growth for clients
- Put Media at the heart of an integrated client proposition to accelerate growth.
- Build next-generation Creative and Production capabilities under a unified operating model for efficiency and impact.
- Elevate Enterprise Solutions to help clients transform AI-driven operations, combining customer experience, commerce, CRM, and technology capabilities.
Become a simpler, integrated company
- Simplify the operating model into four units across four regions.
- Improve go-to-market execution with Global Client Leaders and new Client Solution Architects to orchestrate integrated growth plans.
- Foster a high-performance culture and attract top talent through aligned objectives and incentives.
Unlock the WPP Open advantage
- Connect all units through WPP Open, our agentic marketing platform, powered by Open Intelligence for privacy-first data collaboration.
- Differentiate through trusted data solutions built on InfoSum technology, turning real-world behavior into actionable insights without compromising privacy.
- Expand strategic partnerships to co-innovate AI, data, and tech solutions for clients.
Strong financial foundations for the future
- Achieve £500m in annual gross savings by 2028 by simplifying structure, deduplicating functions, and improving real estate efficiency.
- Rationalise the portfolio to reduce leverage and increase growth capacity.
- Maintain an investment-grade balance sheet while prioritising growth investments and shareholder value.
Execution plan: what has started and what’s announced
- Go-to-market: Create Client Solution Architects and Growth teams to cross-sell and integrate capabilities.
- Technology: Fully integrate Open Intelligence into WPP Open, expand partnerships with Google (AI and cloud) and Adobe for global brands; launch WPP Open Pro (self-service) and Agent Hub (internal AI agent store).
- Organizational structure: Establish WPP Production to unify production capabilities and enable more integrated client offerings.
- Specific actions announced today include:
- WPP Creative: Form a unified operating model across Creative, PR, and Design that preserves agency cultures while enabling shared systems and collaboration.
- WPP Enterprise Solutions: Create a new unit aggregating customer experience, commerce, CRM, content transformation, and technology/data capabilities for enterprise AI transformation.
- Cost efficiency: Initiate a £500m savings plan to fund growth initiatives and margins restoration.
- Talent framework: Introduce a global high-performance framework aligned to client outcomes.
- Portfolio focus: Implement portfolio actions to unlock capital, reduce leverage, and improve financial flexibility.
Delivery phases in more detail
Phase 1: Stabilise (2026)
- Immediate goal: Improve net new business performance. Expect to see progress in new business and to achieve around £250m of gross run-rate savings by year-end. Portfolio actions will enhance balance sheet flexibility.
Phase 2: Build (2027)
- Fully implement revised go-to-market strategy and operating model, delivering an integrated offer across media, creative, production, and enterprise solutions. Target: return to organic growth in 2027, with margin improvement and leverage reduction.
Phase 3: Accelerate (2028+)
- A simpler, lower-cost, AI-enabled business with revenue growth from deep integration of all four units and the expansion of agentic workflows worldwide. Target: stronger organic growth, higher margins, and robust cash conversion.
Financial framework and leverage expectations
- Total cash costs associated with Elevate28 are expected to be about £400m, spread over two years, with the intention of reinvesting a large portion of savings into growth areas.
- The balance of funds will support margin rebuilding and improved operating leverage as growth returns.
- The company anticipates a temporary rise in average net debt to Headline EBITDA in 2026, followed by reductions from 2027 onward as performance improves and portfolio value is realized.
Outlooks for 2026
- Like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs is expected to decline in the mid to high single digits in H1 2026, with a better trajectory in H2 as new initiatives take hold.
- Headline operating margin is expected to be around 12%–13% for the full year, reflecting cost savings benefits and investments in growth, plus some year-long impact from Elevate28 actions.
- Adjusted operating cash flow before working capital is anticipated at £800m–£900m, or £1.0bn–£1.1bn excluding historical and restructuring costs.
- The group remains committed to an investment-grade balance sheet; Fitch affirmed WPP’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating at BBB with a Stable Outlook.
Three-phase delivery: what to expect in practice
- Phase 1 (2026): Stabilise new business performance, deliver £250m gross run-rate savings by year-end, and progress portfolio actions for balance sheet flexibility.
- Phase 2 (2027): Full rollout of the revised go-to-market, realization of the new operating model, and return to organic growth.
- Phase 3 (2028+): A simpler, AI-enabled, higher-margin business with stronger cash conversion and expanded growth through integrated capabilities.
What this means for stakeholders
- For clients: a more coherent, AI-enabled partner that can orchestrate media, creative, production, and technology to drive growth in a complex market.
- For employees: clearer performance incentives aligned to client outcomes, plus opportunities to work across unified teams and solutions.
- For shareholders: a plan aimed at stabilising the business, returning to growth, and delivering attractive long-term cash generation and value through disciplined capital allocation.
Controversial note and invitation
Some will question whether large-scale internal reorganization can be executed quickly enough to offset a challenging 2025 baseline. Others may argue that prioritizing cost savings over immediate investment could temper near-term growth. How do you view these trade-offs: Is the Elevate28 blueprint a bold, necessary reset, or a risky bet on aggressive restructuring? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Would you like a shorter executive-summary version as well, or a more detailed line-by-line explanation of Elevate28’s operating-model changes and their anticipated financial impacts?
