• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 27, 2015

WPP has named WPP Digital CEO Mark Read Global CEO of WPP's Wunderman, succeeding Daniel Morel, who will become non-executive chairman. Read, who has been chairman of Wunderman for about a year, will continue in his role as CEO of WPP Digital and he will step down from the WPP board.

Read has been quite active in WPP's digital acquisitions of late, a focus for the holding company and a primary area of focus for WPP CEO Martin Sorrell. And speaking of Sorrell, Read has been long rumored to succeed Sorrell when the head honcho deems his contributions to the holding company complete.

Of the move and of Read's contribution to WPP and Wunderman, Sorrell said: "Under Daniel's leadership, Wunderman has become a global powerhouse that is consistently ranked among the world's top digital agencies. After 14 highly successful years, he has decided it is the right time to pass the torch. As CEO of WPP Digital, Mark brings a wealth of knowledge in digital technology and its application to marketing services, as well as strong links with our new media partners."