WPP plc (WPP): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking to see how a giant like WPP plc is actually making money now, especially after their big push into tech. Honestly, after two decades analyzing these behemoths, I can tell you their new model hinges on making their massive global scale work with AI, which is why they're pouring £300 million into tech this year. We'll break down the nine blocks, showing how they're trying to deliver integrated growth for clients, even as they manage a recent 3.7% headcount reduction and navigate a challenging revenue environment where H1 2025 revenue hit £6,663 million. They are betting the farm on WPP Open. Dive in to see the precise mechanics of this transformation.

WPP plc (WPP) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

You're looking at the bedrock of WPP plc's strategy in late 2025: how they are stitching together external expertise and technology to navigate a tough market. Honestly, the H1 2025 results-revenue less pass-through costs at £5,026 million, with a headline operating profit margin of 8.2%-show why these partnerships are non-negotiable for future growth and efficiency.

The focus is clearly on data and AI integration, which is where the big tech alliances come in. WPP plc views these relationships as providing preferential access to new models and technologies, which is crucial when the market is demanding demonstrable AI-driven results.

Strategic Technology Alliances for AI and Data

WPP plc has formalized deep ties with the major infrastructure providers to power its WPP Open operating system. The integration of data clean room technology, following the InfoSum acquisition, relies heavily on these cloud and hardware partners to function at scale.

Here's a look at the primary technology anchors:

• Partnering with Google Cloud for AI agent development, focusing on human skills guiding the technology.
• Working with Microsoft, whose Azure cloud platform is a key environment for deploying advanced AI workloads.
• Collaborating with NVIDIA to unlock marketing effectiveness through AI-enabled hyper-personalization, building on NVIDIA's hardware prowess.

The scale of the ecosystem is massive; for context, NVIDIA reported FY2025 revenue of $130.5 billion, driven by data center sales, which underscores the infrastructure WPP plc is tapping into.

The adoption of WPP plc's own platform reflects this push: as of March 2025, 48,000 of its people, which is about 60% of client-facing staff, were using WPP Open.

Media Platform Technology Partnerships

To address the shift in media consumption, WPP plc is securing unique access on high-growth platforms. Research from WPP Media suggests that in 2025, content created by individuals on platforms like TikTok will generate more global advertising revenue than all traditional media combined.

The key media platform relationships include:

• TikTok: WPP plc became TikTok's Lead Agency Development Partner, gaining early access to advertising products, including next-generation formats like augmented reality offerings.
• Amazon Ads: The partnership focuses on realizing the tangible benefits of AI investments through WPP OpenDoor.

This focus on creator-led platforms is strategic; WPP Media research projects creator-generated content revenue to grow by 20% in 2025.

Data Capability Bolstering via Acquisition

The acquisition of InfoSum in April 2025 was a direct move to enhance data connectivity without relying on traditional identity profiles. InfoSum, a specialist in data clean room technology, is being integrated into Choreograph, WPP plc's global data company within GroupM.

The financial terms are estimated to be around US$63 million based on reports from Chrysalis, though other investor sources suggested an exit price near $150 million. InfoSum's technology allows WPP plc clients to combine first-party data with signals from partners like Netflix and Experian in a privacy-safe manner, which is a direct response to the evolving privacy landscape.

Collaboration with Independent Creative and Talent Networks

WPP plc maintains a significant reliance on external, flexible talent pools to complement its in-house agencies like VML and Ogilvy. This involves deep collaboration with independent creative studios and extensive freelance talent networks.

While specific financial figures for the external talent spend aren't public, this structure supports agility, especially as WPP plc repositions its media division, which saw an H1 2025 LFL revenue less pass-through cost decline of 2.9%.

The Board declared an interim dividend of 7.5p for H1 2025, down from 15.0p the prior year, signaling a prioritization of capital flexibility to fund these strategic technology and partnership investments.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

WPP plc (WPP) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

You're looking at the core engine of WPP plc right now, the things they absolutely must execute well to make the numbers work. It's all about operationalizing that massive investment in tech and simplifying the structure they inherited.

Developing and deploying the WPP Open AI operating system

The deployment of WPP Open, their AI-powered marketing operating system, is central. They are pushing this hard, aiming to keep it at the forefront of the industry. For 2025, the planned annual investment in WPP Open and AI is set at £300 million, an increase from the £250 million invested in 2024. This isn't just theory; adoption is deep. As of a recent update, around half of WPP's 96,000 employees were using the Open platform in their daily work. That platform now includes the new 'Open Intelligence,' described as the industry's first Large Marketing Model (LMM). In a pilot with 20 clients, this system reportedly gave four-person teams back 14 hours weekly and slashed creative and strategy development time from four weeks down to just three hours. That's efficiency you can bank on. In a single month, teams using the platform generated more than 1 million images and 240,000 videos for clients. Furthermore, they launched WPP Open Pro in October 2025, an integrated solution allowing brands to independently plan, create, and publish campaigns, extending their technology reach beyond traditional agency services.

Providing integrated creative, media, and commerce solutions globally

WPP plc operates through a streamlined structure of six powerful agency networks: WPP Media (formerly GroupM), VML, Ogilvy, AKQA, Hogarth, and Burson. These networks collectively account for around 92% of revenue less pass-through costs. WPP Media itself rebranded from GroupM in mid-2025 to better convey its AI focus and unified structure. The global advertising market context is important here; the forecast for global advertising revenue by the end of 2025 is $1.08 trillion, reflecting a 6% growth rate (a slight downward revision from earlier expectations). For context on media shifts, globally, retail media is expected to surpass total TV advertising revenue this year. WPP plc remains one of the 'Big Three' agency companies globally, alongside Publicis and Omnicom.

Managing over $60 billion in annual media investment through WPP Media

The media planning and buying business, now branded WPP Media, handles a massive volume of client spend. It is explicitly noted that WPP manages more than $60 billion in client media spending annually. This scale is critical, but the segment faced headwinds; in the first half of 2025, WPP Media's like-for-like (LFL) revenue less pass-through costs declined by 2.9%. The company is focused on improving competitiveness here, leveraging WPP Open Media Studio and Choreograph.

Restructuring and simplifying the agency network (e.g., VML, Burson)

A major activity has been simplifying the operating model, which delivered £85 million in structural cost savings in 2024 alone. This simplification involved key mergers that created the current agency structure. You need to know the components:

The overall workforce reflects this streamlining. As of June 30, 2025, the total number of people in the Group was 104,000, down from 111,000 at the same point in 2024. The average number of people in H1 2025 was 106,000, compared to 113,000 in H1 2024.

Conducting data-driven marketing intelligence and analytics

This activity is powered by the aforementioned Open Intelligence platform, which functions as a Large Marketing Model (LMM). The intelligence strategy has explicitly moved away from the old goal of a single, centralized database. Instead, the focus is on secure data collaboration. WPP has invested heavily in this area, including the acquisition of data clean room provider InfoSum, to facilitate this new approach. This allows WPP to run queries across disparate data sources-client data, WPP data, and partner data-to find patterns and generate predictive intelligence without physically pooling the data. The intelligence layer is trained on trillions of data signals across a decentralized network of over 350+ data partners.

• The philosophy is now: collaboration is the new marketing intelligence.
• The goal is intelligence beyond just identity-based matching.
• The platform allows for continuous optimization of audience segmentation and creative development.

WPP plc (WPP) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

You're looking at the core assets WPP plc relies on to operate its global marketing and communications business as of late 2025. These aren't just abstract concepts; they are measurable components driving their strategy.

The human capital within WPP plc is substantial, though it has seen recent adjustments. As of 30 June 2025, the global network comprised approximately 104,000 employees. This figure reflects a workforce reduction of 3.7%, which management linked to revenue performance and restructuring efforts, particularly within WPP Media.

WPP plc's proprietary AI operating system, WPP Open, is a critical internal asset seeing high adoption. By March 2025, adoption stood at 60% of client-facing staff, surging to 85% by the time of the H1 2025 update. The company is making a significant financial commitment to keep this platform leading edge, increasing its annual investment in AI and technology to £300 million in 2025, up from £250 million in 2024. This platform was central to winning major pitches in 2024, including those with Amazon and Unilever.

The company's portfolio of agency brands is structured around six main networks representing over 90% of revenue. These include established names that form the backbone of their creative and media offerings.

The key agency brands underpinning the Key Resources section include:

• Ogilvy
• VML
• AKQA
• Burson
• Hogarth
• GroupM (the media planning and buying business)

WPP plc maintains deep, long-term relationships with a roster of top-tier multinational clients, many of whom are actively using WPP Open. These relationships represent significant, recurring revenue streams and strategic partnerships.

Key clients noted for leveraging WPP Open include:

The financial scale of these resources is reflected in the H1 2025 figures, where revenue less pass-through costs (core agency income) was £5,026 million, despite a challenging environment. The company's average adjusted net debt as at 30 June 2025 stood at £3.4 billion.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

WPP plc (WPP) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core promises WPP plc makes to its clients, the things that keep the lights on and the stock moving. Honestly, it boils down to using their massive scale and new tech to deliver better results than the competition. Here's the quick math on what they are selling as value right now.

Delivering creative transformation and measurable growth for clients

WPP plc positions its offering around tangible business outcomes, moving beyond just creative output. They point to industry recognition as proof of concept. For instance, WPP was named Creative Company of the Year at the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. This creative strength is tied directly to client success, as seen in the 2024 Client net promoter score reaching 31.4, up from 27.5 in 2023. Furthermore, growth from their top 25 clients in 2024 was reported at 2.0%, showing stickiness with the largest spenders.

The financial scale underpinning this promise is significant, even with recent top-line pressures. Check out the core 2024 figures:

Providing hyper-personalisation at scale using AI-driven content creation

This is where WPP plc is putting serious capital to work. They are embedding AI deeply into their workflows, primarily through WPP Open, their intelligent marketing operating system. The annual investment in this AI and data offer is set to increase to £300 million in 2025, up from £250 million invested in 2024. This technology is already seeing adoption; WPP Open monthly active users hit 33,000 in 2024, a jump from 10,000 the year prior. Internally, projections suggest that the new Production Studio within WPP Open, which uses generative AI, could deliver efficiency gains of up to 70 percent in content production, enabling real-time adaptation of content for every audience.

Offering a single, integrated solution across the entire marketing spectrum

WPP plc is simplifying its structure to make this integrated offering clearer to clients. The value proposition here is the breadth of service delivered seamlessly, which helped secure major new business wins in 2024, including Amazon, J&J, Kimberly-Clark, and Unilever. This integration spans creative, production, commerce, and media. The structure is consolidated, with six agency networks now representing approximately c92% of WPP's business. This structure is designed to improve execution and deliver clear business outcomes.

Unmatched global scale and reach across over 100 countries

The sheer size of WPP plc remains a core value proposition, allowing them to service global brands everywhere they operate. As of the end of 2024, the total number of people in the Group was 108,044. This global footprint supports their media forecasting, which anticipates global advertising revenue reaching $1.08 trillion in 2025. The digital dominance in the market they serve is also key:

• Digital pure-play expected to account for 73.2% of global ad revenue in 2025.
• Digital extensions (streaming TV, DOOH) push this to 81.6% of global ad revenue in 2025.
• Retail media is projected to reach $169.6 billion globally in 2025.
• India is a bright spot, with WPP Media forecasting 6.7% growth in that market for 2025 year-to-date performance.

Driving effectiveness and efficiency through data and technology integration

Effectiveness is driven by data-led targeting, which is accelerated by recent strategic moves. The acquisition of Infosum, a data collaboration platform, aims to deepen this AI-driven targeting, leapfrogging older identity-based solutions. In fact, as of early 2025, 60 per cent of client-facing staff were already using the WPP Open platform. Efficiency is also a focus area, evidenced by structural cost savings of £85 million delivered in 2024 from initiatives like the mergers creating VML and Burson, and the simplification of GroupM. They are also driving down operational costs, with IT costs at £684 million in 2024, down 2.0% from 2023.

WPP plc (WPP) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how WPP plc manages its most valuable assets-its clients-as of late 2025. The relationship strategy centers on deep integration, technological enablement, and a laser focus on the largest revenue drivers. This isn't just about pitching; it's about embedding WPP's capabilities into the client's day-to-day operations.

Dedicated, custom-made integrated teams for the largest global clients

WPP plc has streamlined its structure to make accessing integrated services easier, which directly supports the largest global clients. The company now primarily serves clients through six agency networks: GroupM (rebranded from GroupM to WPP Media), VML, Ogilvy, AKQA, Hogarth, and Burson. These six networks collectively account for around 92% of revenue less pass-through costs. This structure is designed to deliver an integrated offer across creative, production, commerce, and media, which is what the biggest spenders demand.

The focus on integration is evidenced by the launch of new, unified entities like VML and Burson, which consolidated previous agencies to offer a stronger, singular proposition. This approach is critical for securing and servicing major accounts, as seen in the successful pitches secured in 2024, including Amazon, Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson, where WPP Open was central to the win. The new WPP Media division, for instance, launched Open Intelligence, which leverages data from 75 markets and is intended to reach 5 billion people globally, demonstrating the scale of integrated solutions offered to top-tier partners.

High-touch strategic consulting and long-term partnership models

The resilience of WPP plc's core relationships is measured by the performance of its most important accounts. While the overall business faced headwinds, the top clients demonstrated stability. For the first half of 2025 (H1 2025), WPP's top 25 clients achieved 0.1% Like-for-Like (LFL) growth. This contrasts with the overall Group LFL revenue less pass-through costs decline of 4.3% in H1 2025. This relative stability shows the stickiness of these high-touch, strategic partnerships.

To put this in context against prior periods, the top 25 clients showed 2.5% growth in Q1 2025, and for the full year 2024, they grew by 2.0%. The commitment to these relationships is also reflected in the company's financial flexibility, even amid challenges; the interim dividend for H1 2025 was set at 7.5p, down from 15.0p in H1 2024, signaling a balance between shareholder returns and strategic investment, like technology, to maintain partnership value.

Digital self-service and collaboration via the WPP Open platform

The digital relationship layer is heavily invested in the WPP Open platform, WPP plc's AI-powered marketing operating system. The annual investment in WPP Open is ramping up to £300 million for 2025, an increase from £250 million in 2024. This investment fuels the digital collaboration and self-service capabilities you're asking about.

Adoption metrics show how deeply this platform is being integrated into client-facing work:

• As of March 2025, approximately 60% of client-facing staff were actively using WPP Open.
• By the end of 2024, 33,000 people were using the platform monthly.
• Large brands like Google, IBM, L'Oréal, LVMH, Nestlé, and The Coca-Cola Company are noted as seeing benefits.
• The launch of WPP Open Pro in October 2025 further democratizes access, allowing brands of all sizes to independently plan, create, and publish campaigns using WPP's data and AI.

Internally, the usage intensity is also high; Large Language Model (LLM) usage within the platform was up 300% since the start of 2024. This platform is the primary vehicle for delivering integrated, data-led services.

Focus on retaining and growing the top 25 clients, which showed resilience

The strategic priority is clearly on the top tier of the client base, which is expected to drive future growth, especially as overall H1 2025 reported revenue was £6,663 million, down 7.8% year-over-year. The performance of these key relationships is a direct measure of the success of the integrated team model.

Here is a comparison of the growth trajectory for the most important clients versus the overall business context in recent reporting periods:

The focus on these relationships is a defensive and offensive strategy; retaining them provides a stable base while new business wins, such as Heineken's global commerce business in Q1 2025, are expected to translate into revenue later in 2025. The company expects its top-line performance to improve in the second half of 2025, largely banking on the momentum generated through these deep client engagements.

WPP plc (WPP) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

Global Integrated Agencies form a core channel for service delivery, exemplified by the major networks.

• VML and Ogilvy operate within the Global Integrated Agencies segment.
• WPP Media (formerly GroupM) is the media planning and buying business within this channel.
• In H1 2025, Global Integrated Agencies saw LFL revenue less pass-through costs fall by 4.5%.
• WPP Media specifically experienced a LFL decline of 2.9% for H1 2025.
• Other integrated creative agencies within this group saw a LFL decline of 5.8% in H1 2025.

Specialist Agencies provide focused expertise, including key Public Relations functions.

The physical channel strategy centers on modern, cost-efficient campus locations.

• WPP reported having 47 campuses globally as of the H1 2025 reporting period, housing 68,000 of its people.
• Seven new campuses were launched in 2024 across locations including London, Miami, and Sydney.
• In November 2025, WPP opened its first Brazil campus, uniting 21 agencies and 4,000 staff in São Paulo.
• The global campus program, launched in 2018, is projected to have 65+ campuses open worldwide by the end of 2025.

Direct client engagement is managed through structured processes and relationship depth.

The top 25 clients of WPP plc held broadly flat at 0.1% LFL growth in the first half of 2025. The company is channeling significant internal resources to enhance this engagement channel through technology.

• WPP aims to increase its annual investment in AI-driven technology to £300 million in 2025, up from £250 million in 2024.
• WPP Open, the intelligent marketing system, had 48,000 people using it in March 2025, up from 33,000 in December 2024.
• The goal for GroupM, via its Open Media Studio within WPP Open, is to have 100% of its clients use the platform.

Overall financial context for H1 2025, reflecting the output of these channels, included reported revenue of £6,663 million and a reported operating profit margin of 3.3%.

WPP plc (WPP) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at the core client base for WPP plc, which is built around securing and growing relationships with the world's largest advertisers who need complex, integrated global services. This focus on scale and integration is key to their strategy, especially with the rollout of WPP Open.

The client base is heavily concentrated at the top end, which is typical for a holding company of this size. WPP's top 25 clients grew by 2.0% in 2024, which outperformed the Group's overall like-for-like revenue less pass-through cost decline of 1.0% for the full year 2024. To be fair, the very top tier showed even better momentum; the top ten clients grew by 2.8% in 2024. These top ten clients alone represent 20% of WPP's revenue less pass-through costs.

The company structures its service delivery around six powerful agency networks-GroupM, VML, Ogilvy, AKQA, Hogarth, and Burson-which collectively account for around 92% of revenue less pass-through costs. The clients served by the table detailing revenue less pass-through costs represented 79% of the total in 2024.

WPP plc targets clients across several major industry verticals. Based on 2024 performance, sectors showing positive growth included:

• CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods)
• Telecom
• Media & Entertainment
• Financial Services
• Travel & Leisure
• Automotive

The media-buying powerhouse, GroupM, which represents 40% of WPP net revenue, saw 2024 growth of 2.4%.

Geographically, the client base is anchored in North America, which remains the single largest market. Here's how the regions stacked up based on 2024 net revenue percentages:

It's worth noting the significant challenge in China, which saw a revenue decline of 20.8% in 2024. The US market, while the largest, saw a decline of 0.7% in 2024. The UK market was particularly tough, down 2.7% for the year.

WPP plc secured new business wins in 2024 from major brands like Amazon, J&J, Kimberly-Clark, and Unilever, which reflects the demand for their integrated offer across media and creative services. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

WPP plc (WPP) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

The Cost Structure for WPP plc is heavily influenced by personnel expenses, significant ongoing technology investment, and restructuring charges related to efficiency drives.

Staff costs represent the largest single expense category. WPP plc managed this by implementing a 3.7% headcount reduction since the start of the year (H1 2025). Overall staff cost, excluding severance and incentives, was down £261 million year-on-year in H1 2025, reflecting a c.6% reduction in headcount when compared to June 30, 2024. The broader restructuring between 2023 and 2025 saw a global workforce reduction of 6.3%, equating to 7,000 employees.

The company faces high fixed costs related to global real estate and campus consolidation as part of its ongoing operational simplification efforts.

A significant capital expenditure is ring-fenced for future capability, with the annual investment in WPP Open, AI, and data development increasing to £300 million in 2025, up from £250 million in 2024.

Severance costs were elevated in H1 2025, totaling £86 million, a substantial increase from £36 million in the prior year period, particularly impacting the WPP Media division during its restructuring. The company anticipates that the severance action taken in the second quarter alone will generate £150 million+ of annualised gross cost savings starting from 2026.

Pass-through costs for media buying and production services are a major component of gross expenditure, though these are typically recovered directly through client billing. For context, H1 2025 revenue less pass-through costs was reported at £5,026 million.

Here is a quick look at the key cost-related financial figures from H1 2025:

The company is managing its flexible cost base proactively, which contributed to a headline operating profit margin of 8.2% in H1 2025, down 2.9 percentage points like-for-like from H1 2024's 11.5%.

You should track the realization of the expected annualised gross savings against the current severance spend to gauge the efficiency of the restructuring actions.

WPP plc (WPP) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at the revenue engine for WPP plc as of late 2025, which is clearly under pressure from client spending caution, leading to revised expectations for the full year.

The total reported revenue for the first half of 2025 hit £6,663 million. This top-line figure reflects a reported drop of 7.8% compared to the same period last year.

The core measure WPP plc focuses on, revenue less pass-through costs (which is essentially the net revenue from services rendered), was £5,026 million for H1 2025. On a like-for-like (LFL) basis, this key metric declined by 4.3% in the first half.

Looking ahead, the full-year guidance for LFL revenue less pass-through costs has been tightened, now guided to decline between -5.5% to -6.0% for 2025. This reflects a challenging environment, especially given the performance in the second quarter.

The revenue streams are broken down across the Global Integrated Agencies segment, which houses both media and creative services. Here's how that segment performed in H1 2025:

The performance in media, which is undergoing significant repositioning, saw a 2.9% LFL decline in revenue less pass-through costs for the first half. The broader creative and digital transformation services within the integrated agencies experienced a steeper drop of 5.8% LFL over the same period.

Despite the top-line pressures, the company has provided a projection for cash generation, which is critical for funding operations and investment:

• Adjusted operating cash flow before working capital for the full year 2025 is expected to be in the range of £1.1 billion to £1.2 billion.

This cash flow expectation is lower than the original estimate of around £1.4 billion mentioned earlier in the year.