WPP Media in India has had a good CY25, winning almost 50% of all new business pitches in the year. Shekhar Banerjee, president, client solutions, WPP Media South Asia, talks to Christina Moniz about the firm’s rebranding strategy, its efforts in upskilling talent in AI capabilities and the increasing relevance of the media agency in today’s industry. Edited excerpts:
WPP rebranded GroupM as WPP Media earlier this year. What does this move mean for the network’s operations in India?
The move is meant to create simplification across WPP Media, and most things across the company still remain the same. We were always under the WPP umbrella earlier too, but now we’re no longer called GroupM. The new structure at WPP Media also means that we are now scaling up certain practices such as consulting, commerce and content, turning them into strong growth pillars.
In the Indian market, WPP Media continues to remain a strong entity, having picked up almost 50% of all new business wins in CY25 (as per media agency research firm COMvergence). EssenceMediacom was the number one agency and Wavemaker was ranked second, so all our agency brands continue to thrive as they did before. We have had a strong foundation in the Indian market and our clients have always known us for our efficiency, but now we have doubled down on effectiveness. That has unlocked new growth for our clients. We are excited about some of the new brands that have come on board, such as Wipro in Bengaluru. Many of our client partnerships are long-term relationships, some well over a decade old, affirming media’s role in driving business growth.
With increasing fragmentation in the industry, does the traditional media agency model needs an overhaul?
On the contrary, I would argue that the evolution of the media landscape has made our agencies even more powerful today. In the past, media agencies had a broad-based approach, which was usually centred around TV. Despite the fast-changing media landscape, there is no doubt that TV today is still effective and drives growth.
What has changed today is that media agencies and marketers now have more choices. With a range of platforms, brands can target consumers effectively across cohorts. This is especially great for advertisers who in the past could only use limited avenues like TV, radio or activations. Today’s ecosystem empowers small advertisers with low budgets, since they have various options like retail media and influencer marketing.
Are you seeing a shift in the way advertisers are spending then? Are they devoting higher budgets to performance marketing?
First, I believe there is a solid bias in the term ‘performance marketing’ itself. Does it mean that other marketing strategies do not perform? My view is that investment in building equity gives advertisers long-term returns. What you call performance marketing refers to short-term investments in closing sales or transactions. Today, thanks to the availability of data, attribution is easier to do, allowing brands to evaluate spends on equity building versus lead generation. This can help advertisers allocate budgets better and in real time, ensuring that they spend adequately on both. Brands that spend on equity building are also more profitable in the long run, and will eventually need to invest less in lead or sales generation.
What impact are you seeing on advertising growth as a result of the ongoing West Asia conflict?
India’s GDP growth is still around 6.6% and price inflation is hovering around 4%, so our macro indicators are reflective of our economy’s resilience. Having said that, a prolonged conflict could impact the industry, but it’s hard to predict what the impact will be. In such crisis situations, advertising’s role is even more critical in improving consumer sentiment and spending. This is also where investments in brand building pay off, because companies that have invested in equity will find that brand love becomes an important cushion in challenging times.
With AI becoming dominant in advertising, how has the talent pool in WPP Media evolved?
As you probably know, we have an agentic ecosystem WPP Open created in compliance with AI-related laws. Our major focus now is on AI adoption across our workforce. We already have great talent with the right advertising foundation, and are upskilling them to leverage AI to drive impactful outcomes for our clients.
As market leaders, it is also our responsibility to nurture talent for the industry’s future. WPP Open is a major attraction for young talent too because we are training them in a skill that sets them up well in their careers. AI is always evolving and moving at a fast pace, which is why we are refreshing our ecosystem at that speed. We currently have around 150 live agents (AI-powered virtual assistants) working on projects with our teams and they take care of the grunt work, allowing our talent to focus on driving outcomes.