Cindy Rose Addresses WPP’s Staff as Incoming CEO

Cindy Rose addressed WPP staff for the first time on Wednesday as she prepares to take over as CEO next week, commencing her leadership of the holding company as Mark Read departs.

In a video shared with employees and obtained by ADWEEK, Rose noted her experience with WPP “from many different angles”—as a client of Grey, VML, and Wunderman Thompson while at Vodafone, Virgin, and Microsoft; as a strategic technology partner during her time at Microsoft; and as a WPP board member for the past six years.

“You could say I’ve been a mega-fan of WPP for more than 15 years now,” Rose said. “I feel so privileged and inspired to work together with all of you to write WPP’s next chapter, and our next chapter will be fantastic.”

Rose officially takes the helm from Read, who announced in June that he would step down after seven years as CEO and three decades at the company, on Monday, Sept. 1. Read will stay on as an advisor to support the transition through the end of the year.

WPP announced in July it had hired Rose, a Microsoft exec and WPP board member since 2018.

A new chapter

Rose takes the top job at one of the world’s largest advertising firms as the company recovers from a challenging first half, in which revenues declined 4.3% year over year and headcount was reduced by 7,000 employees amid client losses and restructuring.

“I won’t sugarcoat this: We have a lot of hard work ahead, and of course, it won’t be easy,” Rose acknowledged in the video. “But when I think about the assets that we have as a company—the brilliant people we have, the multi-award-winning creative work that we produce, our beloved agency brands, our amazing clients, our global reach, our world-leading technology capabilities—wow. I cannot help but feel excited about our future.”

Rose invited staff to a global town hall on Sept. 4, which will take place live from WPP’s New York headquarters, “so that [she] can share a bit more about [WPP’s] direction of travel.” Employees will be able to ask questions live and via a Q+A chat or over email.

“I am, as you can probably tell, super excited to co-create the new WPP together,” she said.