The patient, it seems, is sitting up in bed.
WPP, the London-based advertising and marketing services conglomerate that has spent recent years watching rivals gain ground while its own fortunes dimmed, reported third-quarter results that suggested the bleeding may be slowing, if not yet stanched. Revenue declined again, but by a smaller margin than in previous quarters — the kind of improvement that passes for good news on a holding company earnings call.
The results arrive nine months into a strategic overhaul being led by Cindy Rose, who took over as chief executive with a two-year plan to streamline the sprawling company and return it to growth. Ms. Rose, in comments accompanying the earnings release, said the plan remained on track, a phrase that has been uttered by many a chief executive in the early innings of a turnaround. (Whether the phrase still applies in the late innings is another matter.)
WPP, which owns agencies including GroupM, Ogilvy and AKQA, has been navigating the same headwinds buffeting the rest of the agency world: clients demanding more for less, technology companies eating into traditional agency territory, and a general sense that the old conglomerate model — acquire everything, cross-sell relentlessly, repeat — may have reached its natural limits.
The company has responded with the usual tools: cost cuts, organizational reshuffling, and earnest talk of artificial intelligence capabilities.
For Sir Martin Sorrell, who built WPP into the world's largest advertising company before his departure in 2018, the current predicament might serve as a reminder that empires require constant maintenance. For Ms. Rose, it is simply Tuesday.
The turnaround continues. The patient is not yet ready to leave the hospital, but the doctors report that vital signs are stable.
Original story published in adweek.com: "WPP Shows Signs of Stabilization as Q3 Revenue Decline Eases"