Ogilvy executive chairperson Hephzibah Pathak has been appointed as the chief executive officer of the newly created WPP Creative unit in India. The appointment is part of WPP’s broader strategy to create a single umbrella group to bring together its creative, design and PR agencies, primarily, Ogilvy, VML, AKQA, Burson, Landor, and Design Bridge & Partners.
Pathak’s confirmation establishes her as the central leadership figure for WPP Creative in India, anchoring the market within the new global structure.
A statement from the company said, “As announced during our recent Strategy Update, WPP is creating a lean regional leadership team to develop the WPP Creative operating model. This model will support our creative, design, and PR agencies, including VML, Ogilvy, Burson, AKQA, Landor, Design Bridge & Partners, and others.
“In India, Hephzibah Pathak has been appointed CEO of WPP Creative, representing all the iconic agencies under the WPP Creative umbrella. She will work collaboratively with the agency brand CEOs to enhance integration, expand capabilities, and ensure seamless client access to our full talent pool. Our iconic agency brands continue to be a key part of the ecosystem, and the focus remains on client benefit and integrated creative excellence.”
Pathak has been with Ogilvy since 1997. In January 2024, she was appointed as executive chairperson, the first woman to lead the company in India in the 95 years of its existence.
"Doubling down on agency brands"
WPP Creative, led globally by Jon Cook, CEO of VML, was introduced earlier this year as part of the company’s wider transformation strategy to simplify operations, enhance integration across capabilities, and drive efficiencies, with a targeted £500 million in annual cost savings by 2028.
While announcing its Elevate28 strategy, chief executive Cindy Rose stressed that agency brands will continue to operate as separate entities.
“We're not sunsetting agency brands. I'd love to create some clarity on that — what we're doing with WPP Creative is doubling down on our agency brands,” she said. “They'll continue to trade as such and engage with clients as such, but what we're doing is giving them a home in WPP Creative, which is effectively like an operating system, where they will have access to the full breadth of WPP capabilities, so that every agency can show up with a fully integrated offer for our clients and help to deliver their growth and success, and that's what this is all about.”
