WPP STREAMLINES OPERATIONS AS GREY AND OGILVY MERGE BACK-OFFICE FUNCTIONS

WPP has consolidated the back-office operations of Grey and Ogilvy as part of Grey’s transition from AKQA into the Ogilvy network. The move reflects WPP’s broader strategy to simplify structures, cut duplication and improve efficiency, while preserving each agency’s creative identity and client-facing autonomy.  

WPP’s latest structural overhaul marks a quiet but significant moment in the ongoing evolution of the world’s largest advertising and communications group. In a move that reflects broader pressures in the global marketing services industry and WPP’s long-term plan to streamline operations, the holding company has begun consolidating the back-office functions of two of its most storied creative agencies — Grey and Ogilvy. The decision, which forms part of the organisational realignment following Grey’s move out of the AKQA Group and into Ogilvy earlier this year, signals a recalibration of how the network supports its creative businesses and manages costs while aiming to maintain client service and creative energy.

The consolidation effort focuses on merging non-creative support functions — including finance, human resources, information technology and other administrative tasks — into shared services intended to operate more efficiently across both agency brands. While such back-office integration might seem unremarkable on its own, industry watchers see it as part of a broader rethinking at WPP of how legacy agency brands can coexist and thrive in a rapidly changing marketplace where clients increasingly demand seamless, data-enabled, cost-effective work from their partners. By reducing duplication and centralising support operations, WPP believes it can free up creative teams to focus on client-facing work without being weighed down by redundant processes.

The back-office consolidation follows a major strategic shift in May 2025, when WPP announced a realignment that moved Grey out of the AKQA Group — where the two agencies had been linked since 2020 — and into the Ogilvy network. Under that earlier shake-up, Grey was positioned as a standalone agency under the Ogilvy umbrella, reporting up through Ogilvy’s global leadership while retaining its own brand and creative identity. Grey’s global CEO was set to report directly to Ogilvy’s global chief executive, reflecting closer strategic alignment between the two creative houses.

For decades, Grey and Ogilvy have carved distinct reputations in creative advertising. Ogilvy, founded by David Ogilvy in 1948, has become a multinational powerhouse celebrated for its integrated marketing approach, blending advertising, public relations and digital commerce. Grey, known for its “Famously Effective” work, has also won acclaim across global markets. By bringing Grey’s operations closer to Ogilvy’s infrastructure, WPP is betting that shared administrative strength can enhance creative collaboration without diluting individual identities.

Yet the path to today’s consolidation hasn’t been purely linear. Grey’s history within WPP has included several realignments and partnerships, from its days as part of the AKQA Group to strategic alliances with Ogilvy’s Paris office. Grey’s departure from AKQA was preceded by WPP’s internal changes and leadership shifts, including the exit of AKQA’s founder and long-time CEO in late 2024 and subsequent leadership transitions that reshaped the holding company’s approach to its agency portfolio.

Industry insiders note that the consolidation of support functions across agencies is not unique to WPP; holding companies across the sector have increasingly sought to reduce operational fragmentation, particularly as economic headwinds and mounting client demands push networks to find efficiencies. Yet blending elements of two iconic agency back offices is a delicate exercise. Creative people traditionally guard their autonomy fiercely, and any perception that administrative changes could blunt creative spark or slow decision-making can spark internal resistance. WPP has tried to reassure staff and clients that the consolidation is intended not to homogenise creative cultures but simply to rationalise the often invisible systems that underpin their day-to-day work.

The response inside the agencies has been mixed, according to people familiar with internal discussions. Some creative leaders have welcomed the move, seeing it as a necessary step toward freeing up resources for client work and innovation. Others worry that the blending of systems might create short-term disruptions or mask deeper questions about the future of agency brands in a holding company environment that continues to shift toward integrated offerings. However, WPP executives have been clear that the brands themselves — from Grey’s creative studios to Ogilvy’s full-service network — will continue to operate independently in terms of culture and client engagement, even as they tap into shared back-office infrastructure.

For WPP’s leadership, the consolidation arrives amid a period of substantial transformation. The group has been actively simplifying its organisational footprint, reducing complexity in legal entities, IT systems and regional structures as part of a push to improve operational performance. That strategy has been coupled with investments in technology platforms designed to drive efficiencies and support clients in an era of digital transformation. Some of these efforts — including the rollout of global enterprise resource planning systems and the optimisation of finance shared services — provide the technical backbone that enables agencies like Grey and Ogilvy to plug into a unified support model.

Clients, for their part, are watching closely. Many global brands are demanding more integrated service models from their agency partners, expecting seamless coordination across creative, media, data, technology and analytics. By streamlining back-office functions, WPP hopes to offer a more cohesive service experience without forcing clumsy mergers of distinct creative cultures. The question remains whether this approach will translate into improved client results and operational agility in the fiercely competitive advertising landscape.

None of these changes has, publicly at least, been accompanied by a large-scale cull of creative talent or headline-grabbing layoffs. That said, industry chatter about internal restructuring within WPP’s network has been persistent, with some employees speculating about wider implications for roles and agency independence. WPP publicly frames these changes as part of an effort to make its agencies more competitive by lowering overhead, leveraging technology, and aligning organisational structures with the needs of a fast-evolving client base.

For Grey and Ogilvy, the consolidation of back-office operations represents both continuity and change. It is continuity in that both agencies remain flagship creative brands within WPP; it is change in that the mechanics of how they operate behind the scenes have been recast to reflect new priorities. As the dust settles from the May realignment, both networks will be judged not just on the efficiencies delivered through shared services but on how effectively they can collaborate, innovate and compete on behalf of a global roster of clients. And in an industry where creativity is currency, the true measure of this consolidation’s success will likely show up not in administrative charts but in the work that comes out of their studios in the months and years ahead.