Accenture Eyes Opportunities as WPP Restructures Media Business and Welcomes New Leaders
Global consultancy giant Accenture may be exploring opportunities within WPP, the world’s largest advertising and marketing group, as both firms experience major leadership transitions and strategic shifts.
WPP is currently integrating its top three media agencies—EssenceMediacom, Mindshare, and Wavemaker—into a single entity, WPP Media. The consolidation is expected to result in significant job cuts. Meanwhile, creative networks like Ogilvy, VML, and AKQA, along with production powerhouse Hogarth and PR firm Burson, continue to operate under the broader WPP umbrella.
Sources suggest Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture, attended at least one high-level meeting, fueling speculation that Accenture Song—its creative and digital services arm—may be interested in acquiring parts of WPP. However, Song has traditionally avoided media operations, even though it recently expressed interest in finding a way into the sector.
Song, which reports $19 billion in billings, ranks just behind Publicis globally, though analysts question the origin of such figures, given its portfolio of mostly creative and tech-driven agencies, including the flagship Droga5.
As WPP reshapes itself under new leadership—Cindy Rose replacing CEO Mark Read and Ndidi Oteh taking the helm at Accenture Song after David Droga—a break-up of WPP could be on the horizon. Insiders believe creative units like Ogilvy might flourish independently, possibly backed by private equity. Such a move could honor the legacy of David Ogilvy, whose vision built one of advertising’s most iconic names.
In an evolving landscape where consulting giants and traditional ad agencies increasingly collide, the next chapter of WPP—and Accenture’s role in it—could redefine the global advertising business.
