London: Global marketing and communications major WPP has announced a multi-year transformation plan titled Elevate28, aimed at simplifying its organisational structure, integrating its client proposition and restoring sustainable growth in the AI-driven marketing era.
Under the plan, WPP will transition from a traditional holding company model to a single integrated operating company, organised into four core business units — WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions — aligned across four geographic regions: North America, Latin America, EMEA and APAC. The transformation is designed to stabilise performance in 2026, return to organic growth in 2027 and deliver accelerated growth and margin expansion from 2028 onwards.
Announcing the strategy alongside its latest results, Cindy Rose, Chief Executive Officer, WPP, said the company aims to become “the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands in the era of AI,” supported by its agentic marketing platform WPP Open.
Rose acknowledged that recent underperformance stemmed from “excessive organisational complexity, a lack of an integrated operating model and inconsistent strategic execution,” but stressed that these were issues within the company’s control and already being addressed.
Shift to a single integrated company
At the heart of Elevate28 is a fundamental structural shift. WPP will move away from its historic agency-holding model toward a unified operating company delivering fully integrated, AI-enabled solutions across media, creative, production and enterprise transformation.
The new model positions media at the centre of WPP’s client proposition, while building next-generation creative and production capabilities and expanding enterprise solutions to support clients’ AI transformation agendas. All capabilities will be connected through WPP Open and its data layer, Open Intelligence.
£500m cost savings to fund growth investments
WPP expects the simplification and portfolio rationalisation programme to generate £500 million in gross annualised cost savings by 2028, with approximately £400 million in cash restructuring costs over 2026–2027. A significant portion of the savings will be reinvested into high-growth areas including AI, data and technology partnerships.
The group also plans to streamline its portfolio to reduce leverage, strengthen its balance sheet and support disciplined capital allocation while maintaining investment-grade status.
Three-phase roadmap to recovery
The Elevate28 strategy will be executed in three phases:
Stabilise (2026): Immediate focus on improving net new business performance, executing cost savings and rationalising the portfolio.
Build (2027): Embedding the new operating model and integrated go-to-market approach, with a targeted return to organic growth during the year.
Accelerate (2028+): Establishing WPP as a lower-cost, AI-enabled integrated marketing company delivering faster growth, improved margins and stronger cash conversion.
AI platform at the core
Central to the transformation is WPP Open, the company’s agentic marketing platform designed to unify capabilities, data and technology across the organisation. WPP plans to expand strategic technology and data partnerships and differentiate its offer through trusted data solutions delivered via Open Intelligence.
CEO signals confidence in turnaround
Reflecting on her first six months in the role, Rose said the transformation would create “a simpler, more integrated WPP” capable of delivering long-term value for clients, talent and shareholders.
“We have everything we need to succeed: exceptional talent, world-class capabilities, trusted data and technology solutions and groundbreaking partnerships, as well as the scale and reach to service the most complex multinational clients,” she said.
The Elevate28 plan marks WPP’s most significant structural overhaul in years, as global agency networks race to integrate AI, simplify operations and rebuild growth amid intensifying competition and client demand for end-to-end marketing transformation partners.
