WPP has its next CEO – but what do clients make of the heir apparent?

“I don’t know what to think,” one WPP client told Digiday on condition of anonymity. “I’m not sure it matters or how important the move is just yet.” 

It’s not indifference. It’s pragmatism. Marketers like this don’t want to buy into the idea that a leadership change signals sweeping transformation. After all, Rose doesn’t start until September. Until then, they’d rather stay focused on the present, not the promise.  

Ryan Kangisser, a bellwether for client perspective thanks to his proximity to them as the chief strategy officer at MediaSense, expanded on the point:  “I do think that often the industry cares more about these sorts of appointments than clients do. Especially if clients have got a really solid client lead, or business lead, then they’re the people who they feel are the ones driving their business.” 

Clearly, CMOs care about who leads WPP, especially those managing major global accounts. But for most, the CEO is a step removed from the day-to-day.  Which means Rose won’t be judged on the headlines. She’ll be judged on what filters down to the work. 

“I may be wrong, but I think this may be over probably a period of months, rather than days, that clients are really curiously diving into what this means,” said Kangisser. “Notwithstanding there’s going to be a period of handover. So, who’s to say when Cindy is really going to get stuck into client business?”

When she does, she’ll be stepping into a delicate moment. WPP is already in the middle of a transformation plan years in the making. Moving too fast – or misjudging what’s already working – could stall momentum rather than accelerate it. (It helps she’s been on the WPP board for a few years – she should know to some degree where the company is at in that transformation.)

That’s especially true on the media side. WPP Media claimed the largest share of global new business last year, taking 14.2% of total billions, up 3.6% from 2023, according to COMvergence. But that lead is looking shaky in 2025 following two major losses: Mars and Coca-Cola (in North America), worth a combined $2.5 billion. 

Which makes the decision to appoint Rose a high-stakes move. Insiders describe her as a skilled operator and a sharp strategist. And yet she’s stepping into one of the most difficult jobs in advertising just as the stakes are getting higher. 

One ex-WPP executive who now works at an independent agency but who previously worked with Rose on a strategy level, expects Rose to bring discipline to WPP’s organizational management at a higher level. 

“Cindy is disciplined, versatile, and excellent with enterprise clients,” said the exec, who sees the potential for closer connection between Microsoft and WPP, not dissimilar to the holdco’s acquisition of Infosum months after hiring its CEO Brian Lesser. “She will tell the story well to clients and investors about the confluence of technologies, experiences and communications. She’s also a strong operator and will guide the mix of centralized and decentralized functions.”

Does this mean Microsoft will buy WPP or vice versa? Not likely, but the exec speculated that “this may also be an option play for Microsoft to pull another Razorfish,” pointing to the Lesser/Infosum connection as a blueprint for Microsoft getting back into the agency business after selling Razorfish in 2009. 

Ultimately, the job ahead is about building trust and coherence in an environment that still feels fragmented for many clients. That means Rose’s choices, from structure tweaks to tech investments, will need to help CMOs navigate a maze of rising costs, tighter budgets and the growing impact of generative AI on everything from search to creative to paid media at large.

“This is against a backdrop of a need to reduce waste in paid spend, including reducing duplicated reach and frequency,” said Jay B. Wilson, vp analyst at Gartner for Marketing Leaders. “The extent to which Rose can focus WPP on helping clients with these challenges will be a good indicator of value that will keep clients at the holdco.”

Whatever shape Rose’s strategy takes, one thing is clear: clients won’t wait for a narrative. They’ll wait for results. 

Anush Prabhu, founder of consultancy Braindrops Strategy and former global head of strategy at WPP’s EssenceMediacom, sees Rose’s hire as key to bridging the gap between WPP’s aspirations and its current state. 

“Cindy checks all the right boxes for an industry being heavily transformed by technology, at a holding company perceived to be behind the curve,” said Prabhu, who cited her board-member experience as an advantage. Rose is “an impressive tech leader from the outside, with enough knowledge of the inside …. It will be interesting to see how she shapes the company and industry’s vision around creativity.”

Less optimistic is another exec who’s worked at both WPP and Microsoft, who worries that someone coming from Microsoft’s culture may not fit well in a company that sells marketing services.

The exec, who spoke on condition of anonymity, wondered whether Rose will turn out more like David Kenny, who has successfully bridged tech and agency cultures over his career, or Marissa Mayer, whose tenure running Yahoo after Google was seen, fairly or unfairly, as less successful. 

Forrester analyst Jay Pattisall added a similar note of caution regarding Rose’s outsider status. 
“It’s important for WPP and Cindy Rose to remember that fundamentally, WPP is not a software company,” he said. “It is a services company that leverages software for value in combination with its services.”