Last October WPP downgraded its outlook for the year warning investors that the firm’s net organic revenue decline would be between 5.5% and 6%. Earlier it had hoped to curb the slide to between 3% and 5%. 

The company reported today that the 2025 shortfall was 5.4%, allowing it to say the number was "ahead of last guidance.” The major business segments and geographic regions all contributed to the shortfall. 

And the outlook for the first half of this year calls for a continued net organic revenue drop in the mid to high single digit range on a percentage basis. An undefined but “improved trajectory” is expected in the second half of the year. A return to growth is expected by 2027. 

Investors weren’t impressed, sending company shares on the London Exchange down 5% in afternoon trading, with Reuters reporting that they hit their lowest point since 1998. 

Today the company spent more effort communicating what its turnaround plan is—the latest in a series of turnaround plans that began when Mark Read was appointed CEO in 2018. 

The latest plan has a name. It’s called “Elevate28” and is designed to stabilize the business this year, build momentum in 2027 and deliver sustained growth from 2028 and beyond. 

The company said it would cut costs by 500 million GBP a year to help achieve the plan. That cost saving is expected to be fully achieved by 2028. 

And, further simplifying its structure, WPP is reorganizing into four core operating units: WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions across the four regions of North America, EMEA, Latin America and Asia Pacific. 

The plan calls for “leading with media at the heart of an integrated proposition.” Connecting capabilities through the firm’s marketing platform WPP Open is another key pillar of the new strategy.  

“Our recent underperformance has been driven by excessive organizational complexity, a lack of an integrated operating model and inconsistent strategic execution,” said WPP CEO Cindy Rose. “While disappointing, I see huge potential as these issues are all within our power to fix and we’re already making great progress.” 

The company stated that recent performance has been impacted by “excessive organizational complexity, lack of an integrated operating model and inconsistent strategic execution.” The new plan addresses these challenges by “reorienting the company around the evolving needs of clients, leveraging WPP’s scale and WPP Open.” And integrating its main offerings: media, creative, data and technology. 

The following actions were announced today: 

•The formation of WPP Creative, a unified operating model for the group’s agency brands across Creative, PR and Design. This preserves distinct agency cultures while implementing a shared operating system to facilitate collaboration and resource sharing.  

• WPP Enterprise Solutions: Establishment of a new operating unit consolidating WPP’s customer experience, commerce, CRM, content transformation and technology & data capabilities to capture high-growth demand for enterprise AI transformation.  

• Cost efficiency: Initiation of a new 500 million GBP savings plan to fund investment in growth drivers and rebuild margins.  

• Talent framework: Implement new framework to embed a high-performance culture and align objectives and incentives globally to client outcomes and overall WPP success.  

• A portfolio review that will target assets for sale to unlock capital which will be used to reduce leverage and further build financial flexibility. 

The company said it would spend 400 million GBP to enact the Elevate28 plan.  

Media and marketing advisory firm Madison And Wall applauded WPP’s turnaround plan, calling it “unquestionably the right direction for WPP and every globally-oriented agency group looking to service global marketers with scaled marketing-related services.” It noted that Publicis, Havas and Dentsu have all taken similar steps to provide an integrated offering. 

The firm also highlighted WPP’s move to create and “Enterprise Solutions” unit, calling it a “significant opportunity.”