After WPP Media, WPP to redraw its creative structure with Ogilvy, VML and AKQA

New Delhi: WPP has decided to place its three main creative advertising agencies, Ogilvy, VML and AKQA, under a single organisational umbrella called WPP Creative.

The development validates BestMediaInfo.com’s November 2025 reportage around a possible VML-Ogilvy consolidation and a wider creative restructuring at WPP. WPP is expected to issue a formal announcement on the WPP Creative development soon.

The move follows WPP’s recent integration push, after it brought its media agencies under WPP Media and set up WPP Production.

Also read: Ex-WPP chief Sir Martin Sorrell on WPP’s impending creative restructuring

As per global media reports, the decision was discussed at a meeting in New York last week, though plans could still evolve. New CEO Cindy Rose is due to outline her broader strategy on February 26. The reports also said a potential sale of WPP’s PR business, Burson, was discussed.

The latest move stops short of a full agency merger. It brings the three networks under one creative holding structure, while allowing them to continue operating as distinct brands. WPP Creative will sit alongside the group’s already integrated media and production divisions.

In November 2025, BestMediaInfo.com reached out to WPP amid industry chatter around a possible VML-Ogilvy amalgamation. WPP declined to comment on speculation at the time, and senior leadership in India said they were unaware of any such plan. WPP had only confirmed that a strategic business review was underway, without disclosing details.

For WPP’s business, the expected gains are simpler reporting lines, fewer overlaps across P&Ls, and faster deployment of shared capabilities across creative, experience and technology. 

The umbrella also gives WPP a cleaner way to pitch and deliver integrated mandates, linked to its broader media and production set-up.

For clients, the impact will be seen in buying and execution. The structure could reduce the need to stitch together multiple networks for strategy, creative, design and technology. 

Marketers will also watch how much autonomy each agency retains, and how centralised decision-making becomes under the umbrella.

In India, the immediate question is leadership. It remains to be seen who will head WPP Creative locally. Babita Baruah heads VML India. Ogilvy India’s leadership includes Hephzibah Pathak as Executive Chairperson and V R Rajesh as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), making Ogilvy’s top team another likely contender.

The move mirrors WPP’s earlier restructuring decisions, including Grey being brought under Ogilvy, and the formation of VML through the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson.

VML’s India journey has also seen multiple structural turns over the years: HTA into JWT, then the VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson phase, and then the simplified “VML” identity. With WPP Creative, the brand remains, the reporting line changes, and the group extends its umbrella model in creative.