What will the Cindy Rose era mean for WPP?

WPP announced this month that Microsoft executive Cindy Rose will succeed outgoing chief executive Mark Read. Rose is currently chief operating officer, global enterprise, at Microsoft and will be WPP’s third CEO and the first female leader of a major agency holding company. 

The announcement, which arrived sooner than expected, came one day after the holding company issued a shock profit warning to the stock market, and follows major client losses for WPP including the Mars account and a portion of the Coca-Cola business.

Analysts have responded to the appointment, saying that the Rose era “has to be transformational” and “WPP knows it needs a reboot”.

In this episode, the Campaign editorial team discusses the reaction to Rose’s appointment, what WPP needs from its new CEO or whether, as former CEO Sir Martin Sorrell has suggested, WPP is “too far gone”. The chat features Campaign’s editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier, UK editor Maisie McCabe and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis. The episode is hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley.

Coming up in the Campaign calendar:

• Campaign Live
• Campaign Big Awards

Further reading:

• What can new CEO Cindy Rose bring to WPP and what does it need?
• Accenture and WPP have discussed potential M&A deal
• WPP's 'pretty grim' profit warning: stock market analysts react
• WPP closes in on new CEO as some big names ruled out