Cindy Rose delivers message to WPP staff ahead of CEO role

New Delhi: Cindy Rose has spoken to WPP employees on wednesday ahead of her appointment as chief executive, acknowledging “a lot of hard work ahead” as she prepares to succeed Mark Read, according to the Adweek report.

In a video message to staff, obtained by Adweek, Rose highlighted her longstanding association with the company, noting her perspective “from many different angles”, as a client of Grey, VML and Wunderman Thompson during her tenure at Vodafone, Virgin and Microsoft; as a technology partner while at Microsoft; and as a WPP board member since 2018.

“You could say I’ve been a mega-fan of WPP for more than 15 years now,” Rose told staff. “I feel so privileged and inspired to work together with all of you to write WPP’s next chapter, and our next chapter will be fantastic.”

Rose officially will step into the role on September 1, following Read’s decision in June to leave after seven years as CEO and three decades with the company. He will remain as an adviser through the end of the year to support the transition. WPP confirmed her appointment in July, describing it as a leadership move following her senior role at Microsoft and her six years on the board.

According to Adweek, Rose takes charge at a difficult moment for the holding group, which reported a 4.3% year-on-year revenue decline in the first half of 2025 and a reduction of 7,000 staff amid client losses and restructuring efforts.

“I won’t sugarcoat this: We have a lot of hard work ahead, and of course, it won’t be easy,” Rose said in her video address. 

“But when I think about the assets that we have as a company, the brilliant people we have, the multi-award-winning creative work that we produce, our beloved agency brands, our amazing clients, our global reach, our world-leading technology capabilities, wow. I cannot help but feel excited about our future.”

“I am, as you can probably tell, super excited to co-create the new WPP together,” she concluded.