WPP eyes India for growth as global revenue faces headwinds

At a time when most global advertising markets are grappling with economic sluggishness and geopolitical flux, India has stood out for WPP Plc—not just as a promising growth engine, but as a testing ground for the future of advertising. While the world’s largest markets contracted in Q1 2025, WPP’s India operations reported a 5.5% like-for-like revenue growth, the only one among the holding company’s top five regions to post a positive figure.

Against this backdrop, WPP’s CEO Mark Read took the stage at WAVES 2025 in Mumbai with a clear message: India is not only vital to the company’s balance sheet but also central to its transformation strategy, especially as it bets big on AI and advanced tech capabilities.

“We are really committed to the four areas of development—driving collaboration through our world-class campuses, tripling our global development centres here, growing and supporting our enterprise tech, and then investing in new technology capabilities here,” Read said in his keynote session at WAVES 2025 in Mumbai.

India: Market, muscle and momentum

The holding company currently employs 11,000 people in India, creating work for both local and global clients. Its portfolio spans marquee agencies such as Ogilvy, GroupM, Hogarth and EssenceMediacom, all of which are increasingly plugged into the company’s larger global AI infrastructure and creative network.

But the commitment to India isn’t just internal. Read emphasised the role of India’s small and medium business (SMBs) in shaping advertising’s next growth wave. “There is another driving force to the advertising industry—small and medium business—particularly in India,” he said.

India is home to an estimated 63.05 million micro enterprises, 330,000 small enterprises, and around 5,000 medium-sized businesses. Salesforce’s ‘6th Edition Small & Medium Business Trends’ report, based on responses from 3,350 SMB leaders across 26 countries—including 200 in India—found that 93% of SMBs in India using AI have witnessed revenue growth. This shows a shifting market environment where these organisations are willing to explore how AI and autonomous agents can reshape business operations.

“As new advertising models like search and social media grow, advertising has been democratised and is much more widely available to firms,” Read added. “Advertising tools and tech companies like Google and Meta are making available to small and medium enterprises has allowed new generations of entrepreneurs to launch new ventures to reach customers. All of this is bringing a more vibrant economy.”

That vibrancy is increasingly flowing into WPP’s books, even as global markets remain flat or decline. In Q1 2025, WPP’s like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs dropped 2.7% globally to $3.3 billion (£2.48 billion). The US was flat, Germany and the UK saw a 5.5% decline each, and China posted a steep 17.4% fall.

“Our financial performance in Q1 was in line with our expectations, reflecting macroeconomic challenges and the timing of new business, and we expect these factors to continue in Q2 with performance anticipated to improve in the second half,” Read had stated at the time of Q1 2025 revenue release. Despite the drag, WPP has maintained its full-year guidance of flat to -2% revenue less pass-through costs, with a stable operating margin, excluding forex impact.

The fifth industrial revolution: Advertising’s AI moment

While India provides a revenue cushion, the company’s long-term bet is on AI—what Read calls the “fifth industrial revolution.” At WAVES, he traced the trajectory of advertising’s evolution through successive tech waves—television, digital, mobile, and social—before arguing that AI could be even more transformational.

“We are at another critical juncture in our industry with the AI revolution, which I feel is as profound, if not more profound, in terms of impact on advertising and indeed on society as any of the previous revolutions,” Read said. “For the first time, computers can do the things that only humans could do, including write copy, take photos, create videos, analyse documents and make recommendations.”

To that end, WPP is deploying ‘WPP Open’, its AI-powered marketing operating system, across its global network. Developed in partnership with Google DeepMind, the platform is designed to assist with everything from brainstorming creative ideas to media optimisation and production.

In one segment of his keynote, Read played a film that demonstrated how WPP Open helped a team member develop a Galentine’s Day brief for a client. The tool used real-time insights to suggest themed events, recommended show references featuring chocolate and romance motifs for multicultural audiences, and filtered U.S. markets based on target demographics. It even suggested creators for event hosting and generated social media content—all in time for the brand marketer’s 9 a.m. meeting with her CEO.

“This film was not a mock-up, but an indication of the real work that is going through the WPP Open platform today,” Read clarified. “So, technology and AI promise to radically change how we work and how we produce work.”

WPP’s production unit Hogarth is also using the platform to generate videos using VEO 2, Google’s latest generative video model. “It had very powerful and innovative motion AI capabilities,” said Read, showcasing yet another example of AI-led transformation within the agency ecosystem.

During his WAVES keynote, he also argued for the societal relevance of advertising, beyond mere commerce. “Advertising has long been the heart of successive technology revolutions,” he said. “It makes a major contribution to society through the funding it provides to media industries, giving incremental money to support drama, entertainment and movies.”

He acknowledged platforms such as YouTube—celebrating its 20th anniversary—and highlighted how ad-funded tools such as Google Maps, email, and social media have become indispensable.

“Brands have increasing value because consumers trust them,” Read said. “Companies and clients have learned or remembered that advertising is an investment in their brands amid an uncertain economic environment.”

AI as a creative partner, not a threat

While the rise of generative AI has enabled many brands to go direct-to-consumer—raising concerns about disintermediation—WPP is positioning itself as the glue that binds tech to creativity. The emphasis is on augmentation, not automation.

“It’s about augmenting human creativity, not about replacing people, but giving people the power of AI,” Read said during a Google panel earlier this year. “At WPP we see that impacting three parts of our business. The first is how we work, the second in how we produce work and the third how consumer experience works.”

Last month, WPP acquired InfoSum, a data collaboration platform enabling privacy-centric data integration. The deal is part of the holding company’s broader strategy to enrich AI targeting precision for clients—a response not just to technological evolution but also to tightening data privacy norms globally. “There is a productivity challenge, which, over time, AI would unlock,” Read added.

The underlying philosophy is that AI can serve as a creative co-pilot—rapidly generating ideas, content and strategies—but human judgment, cultural intelligence, and brand stewardship still remain irreplaceable.

Competitive landscape and what lies ahead

WPP’s embrace of AI and India comes at a time when rival holding companies are showing mixed results. Publicis Groupe led the Q1 2025 performance chart with a 4.9% organic revenue increase to $4.05 billion, followed by Omnicom (3.4%), Havas (2.1%), and Interpublic Group, which posted a 3.6% organic revenue decline. Dentsu Group is expected to report its Q1 results in mid-May.

For WPP, the current softness in its traditional strongholds underscores the importance of strategic reinvention. AI and India are not just buzzwords—they’re both hedges and opportunities.

Read was candid about macroeconomic uncertainty, in a press note accompanying the Q1 2025 revenue announcement. “At this point, we have not seen any significant change in client spending and we reiterate our full-year guidance, which already reflected a challenging environment,” he stated.

But with AI infusing every facet of marketing and India driving the growth narrative, WPP appears to be retooling for an era where agility and intelligence—human or artificial—will separate the frontrunners from the rest.