WPP inched further toward a recovery in Q3, with like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs declining 2.1% to roughly $4.39 billion, or 3.27 billion pounds, according to an earnings statement. Organic revenue growth, a metric the ad-holding group shares for easier comparisons to its competitive set, was up 0.5% for the period.
Sequential quarterly improvements — LFL revenue was down 6.7% in Q1 and 2.8% in Q2 of this year — were cited by executives as signs that WPP’s Elevate28 turnaround plan remains on track, including the goal of returning to positive growth in 2027. The company upheld its full-year guidance for 2026.
The network’s media segment posted growth for the first time in two years and after seeing declines of 8.3% and 2.8% in Q1 2026 and Q2 2026, respectively. The U.S. was the biggest contributor to a 0.3% increase in revenue for media, WPP CEO Cindy Rose said on a call discussing the results with investors.
WPP Media secured large pieces of business that could provide future tailwinds. It retained global media duties for The Coca-Cola Company following a review that saw the North American division — which WPP previously held — switch from Publicis Groupe to Omnicom. WPP did not participate in the pitch for Coke’s North America account.
“We made a tough call between spending yet another six weeks pitching for North America versus delivering against what we had already won,” Rose said in response to an analyst question about the decision. “It was a fine judgment call, which I made, and it's as simple as that really.”
DoorDash deepened its relationship with WPP during the quarter, naming the agency network its first global media partner in September. DoorDash recently announced plans to acquire the grocery delivery platform Instacart for $17 billion, which could benefit WPP on the advertising front. WPP has worked with DoorDash for eight years but the remit now spans more than 40 markets.
Rose was asked about other agencies winning clients without engaging in a traditional pitch process. That is how Publicis nabbed PepsiCo from Omnicom, and Publicis has said it is generally picking up more business without needing to pitch.
“You're not going to find anybody that says, ‘I love pitching.’ The cost and burden of the process seems to be increasing. But I think what's really important to me is that my clients fully understand the implications of the decisions they're making,” Rose said on the call.
“These are really high-stakes decisions with material business consequences and they deserve careful consideration,” Rose added. “I don't think we do ourselves any favor as an industry of professionals by encouraging clients to bypass proper due diligence.”
WPP’s results were a mixed bag elsewhere. Its production arm grew 2.5% in Q3, building on positive gains from the prior quarter, but creative further deteriorated, down 5.1% year over year compared to a 3.5% decline in Q2. Some of the creative slide was attributed to polarization across different client verticals, with some industries pulling back on spending, as well as a slower ramp-up in new business.
WPP Creative is undergoing some leadership transitions as well. Jon Cook is departing VML after over three decades while Tyler Turnbull, formerly of Omnicom’s McCann, recently joined as global CEO of WPP Creative.
