We'll invest in new areas that are reshaping our industry, says new WPP CEO Mark Read

We’re going through a period of structural change, not structural decline, and if we embrace that change we’ll have an exciting and successful future ahead of us, said WPP's new CEO Mark Read in an internal memo to the network of 140,000 employees to outline his vision for the company.

Read was announced as the successor of Martin Sorrell yesterday.

Sharing his vision for the advertising and communication giant, Read said, “As part of that simplification we’ll adopt much more of a common approach to things like technology, data and production. And we’ll invest in new areas – such as artificial intelligence and programmatic media – that are reshaping our industry.”

Read the full memo below:

What makes WPP special is its people, and although every company in the world says that, in our case it happens to be demonstrably true. WPP is a global powerhouse of talent – a world leader in creativity, a world leader in technology and data, outstanding agencies, strong partnerships with the technology giants and many thousands of clients who place a very high value on our work.

As I said in our public announcement this morning, I’m very proud to have been given the chance to lead this great company as CEO. In the last few months the WPP management team has had tremendous support from people across the company, and I’d like to thank you all for that.

Some commentators have questioned the prospects for our industry, but I believe they are bright. We’re going through a period of structural change, not structural decline, and if we embrace that change we’ll have an exciting and successful future ahead of us.

Our mission now is to build on our strengths, increase the pace of change, and release the full potential that exists within WPP for the benefit of our clients. By doing that, we’ll get ourselves in the best shape to deliver stronger growth for our share owners.

I see WPP as a modern, vibrant organisation that works as a team to help our clients succeed and grow through an integrated offer of marketing, consulting and technology services. Our spirit of creativity will always be at the heart of what we do, but pairing that with expertise in technology and data is vital.

Access to our wealth of talent and resources will be even simpler for our clients. We’ll be absolutely focused on what our clients need, and we won’t let our own structures distract us or get in the way. As part of that simplification we’ll adopt much more of a common approach to things like technology, data and production. And we’ll invest in new areas – such as artificial intelligence and programmatic media – that are reshaping our industry.

To help us achieve all these aims, we’ll foster a culture that attracts the best and brightest: inclusive, respectful, collaborative, diverse. Building the new WPP will be a shared endeavour and I’m looking forward to working with and listening to people throughout the company as we develop our plans for the future.

We’ll talk about our progress so far when we update our share owners on our half-year financial results tomorrow – you’ll be able to find the announcement and presentation on WPP.com in the morning.

Finally, I’m delighted to announce that Andrew Scott, who has been a superb colleague during this interim period (and for many years before that), will take up the position of chief operating officer of WPP on a permanent basis as a key member of the senior team.

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