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WPP is ready to choose former BT chief Philip Jansen as its new chair, ending a prolonged seek for a boardroom heavyweight to assist the UK-based promoting group by means of a interval of sweeping technological change.
Individuals aware of the matter mentioned Jansen has been lined as much as succeed Roberto Quarta, who was appointed chair in 2015 and dealt with the acrimonious departure of the then-WPP chief government Sir Martin Sorrell in 2018.
The transfer to usher in Jansen, who has additionally led world companies resembling cost processing firm Worldpay, may very well be introduced as early as Tuesday, one particular person near the scenario mentioned.
WPP and Jansen declined to touch upon Monday.
WPP board member and former Burberry boss Angela Ahrendt has led the method to nominate Quarta’s successor.
Jansen, who has additionally labored at shopper merchandise firm Procter & Gamble, brings expertise throughout advertising and know-how in addition to a report of company transformation.
He led the flotation of Worldpay as chief government and remained as co-head of the broader group after it was acquired by Vantiv in 2017.
At BT, Jansen oversaw a £3bn cost-cutting programme whereas additionally supervising funding within the telecoms firm’s community. Allison Kirkby succeeded him as BT chief government this yr.
Jansen is now poised to assist WPP as the worldwide promoting trade faces an existential menace from synthetic intelligence instruments that may change most of the conventional capabilities of a advertising company.
WPP chief government Mark Learn has been bullish concerning the alternative of utilizing AI to enhance and improve the corporate’s companies relatively than seeing them liable to being made out of date by the know-how.
However analysts are watching intently as to which of the 4 giant world promoting teams can greatest use AI to achieve aggressive benefit.
WPP has additionally encountered questions on its lacklustre share worth at a time when rivals resembling Publicis are buying and selling at increased multiples to earnings.
Some analysts have requested if WPP is buying and selling at too giant a reduction to the sum of its many companies, which vary from promoting companies GroupM and Ogilvy to public relations group Burson.
WPP’s shares have been broadly flat this yr, giving it a market capitalisation of about £8bn.
The group has just lately reorganised its divisions and introduced a few of its company manufacturers beneath a single masthead with the intention to simplify operations and reduce prices.
The Monetary Occasions reported in June that non-public fairness group KKR had approached WPP about taking management of monetary communications enterprise FGS International. WPP, which owns a 55 per cent stake in FGS, rejected the method.
In his valedictory letter as WPP chair within the firm’s 2023 annual report, Quarta gave a vote of confidence in present administration, saying that in 2018 “WPP was contending with a collection of main strategic challenges”.
He added “the manager staff introduced stability and new route to WPP, reworked the corporate’s tradition and revitalised its provide”.
Even so, Quarta acknowledged 2023 had been “more difficult, largely because of the influence of lowered spending within the US from know-how shoppers, to which WPP has better publicity than its friends”.
Promoting executives mentioned these shoppers had been now spending once more, which means there might be strain on WPP to point out indicators of enchancment at its subsequent ends in August.
