The firm raked in £3.2 billion ($4.27 billion) in revenue in the third quarter, but like-for-like revenue less pass through costs (roughly equivalent to net revenue) fell 5.9% in Q3 and 4.8% for the year overall so far. And organic growth expectations for the full year have been revised downwards again, with the company now expecting an overall decline of 6%.

“Our recent performance is unacceptable and we are taking action to address this,” Rose said. “We just haven’t gone far enough or fast enough in adapting to the evolving needs of our clients.”

Critically, revenues at WPP Media — the engine room of the British ad giant — fell for the second quarter, this time by 5.7%. The group’s largest client losses in recent months have come from within its media house, including accounts such as Mars and Bayer. Rose said that turning around the media network was “absolutely critical.”

“GroupM, in the past, probably lost its way,” she told analysts. “I feel very confident that Brian’s vision of an open, privacy-first data and AI powered ecosystem is the way the market is moving… we’re starting to see big shoots of success with important retentions and wins this quarter and hopefully many more to come.”

“Given that WPP Media is the largest revenue contributor and media being the driver of what little agency profitability there is, WPP Media’s success is critical to WPP’s success in the future,” said Forrester analyst Jay Pattisall in an email. “The WPP Media consolidation and InfoSum strategy for Open Intelligence are steps in the right direction…but need to go further to connect content with context.”

WPP Media will need to prove that its recent reorganization can deliver on efficiency and integration policies for clients fatigued by its parent company’s constant restructuring work. “There’s [been] a lot of consolidation, a lot of distraction,” noted Michael Seidler, CEO of investment firm Madison Alley. “It’s a mess right now,” he added.

WPP’s North America revenues fell by 6% and U.K. by 8.9%, while the firm noted “pressure” on the key automotive and CPG sectors. Revenue from its top 25 clients fell 2.5%, a fall primarily triggered by delayed campaign work or postponed project spending, according to chief financial officer Joanne Wilson.

Rose said she’d been on a listening tour of the group’s top clients since she took the helm in September. Areas mentioned in their critical feedback, she said, were her current focus. “Our offer is very complicated. They’d [clients] like us to be simpler to engage with. They’d like a more integrated proposition,” she said. “We also need to significantly improve our execution. We need to be focused on client acquisition, client retention, service delivery, and really strengthening our go to market through dramatic simplification.”

‘Less holdco, more co’

In response, Rose promised a “simpler, more integrated” WPP with more efficient pricing and stricter cost controls — one with a greater emphasis on enterprise and tech solutions. “I personally think we need to be a little less holdco and a little more co,” she said.

The implication is that more behind-the-scenes agency consolidation could be on the way at WPP, as clients use generative AI developments as an excuse to question traditional agency pricing models.

“While her predecessor, Mark Read, consolidated many WPP agencies in the name of simplicity, most recently with WPP Media, there is clearly more work to be done,” said Gartner analyst Jay Wilson in an email. “We’d expect to see further consolidation of WPP’s agencies in other disciplines such as brand strategy, digital marketing, and public relations.”

The new chief exec will soon have a free hand to pursue those changes, with a new guard forming at the top. Former chief exec Mark Read will bid his final goodbyes in December while chairman Philip Jansen is apparently in the frame for a top job at Heathrow Airport. Rose has already hired a new COO, Devika Bulchandani.

Across WPP’s sprawling domain, however, she may struggle to keep the company’s senior talent inside the tent. Consider the brain drain at AKQA, formerly one of its leading creative flagships, which began with founder Ajaz Ahmed’s departure to start indie shop Studio.One. Just this week, North America CEO Tesa Aragones and CMO Jabari Hearn announced their exits. The prospect of further internal consolidation is unlikely to add to the company’s profile as a career destination.

It might means overall staffing reductions, noted Pattisall. “Smaller, smarter agencies are the future of this industry,” he suggested. “I can’t see a future in which WPP doesn’t shrink headcount in 2026, perhaps at the level of 10-15%.”

Though she’s only 60 days into the gig, clues about how a more integrated and tech-focused WPP might operate have emerged. Following a $400 million deal with Google, the holding company launched a self-service ad creative solution for small advertisers, WPP Open Pro, last week. It’s the company’s latest AI-powered attempt to stand out from the crowd, following the June launch of Open Intelligence.

Rose said the solution could act as an on-ramp for clients currently underserved by its agency businesses. “We don’t largely address the SMB and mid-market segment today… we expect revenues generated by WPP Open Pro to be incremental and potentially pull through managed services from WPP that are also incremental,” she told analysts.

Though Rose framed the launch as a new opportunity for WPP, Pattisall suggested it would be more useful as a “defensive move” aiding efforts to retain mid-market clients and “stem the migration to walled gardens.”