VML's CEO Handover Tests WPP's Integrated Agency Model

WPP says Jon Cook will leave his roles as global CEO of VML and CEO of WPP Creative in March 2027, with Eric Campbell set to become global CEO of VML while continuing to lead WPP Creative North America. Campbell will begin the handover immediately.

The personnel change matters because it arrives while WPP is still rebuilding how the group itself operates. Cook led the 2024 combination of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, then took responsibility for WPP Creative when the group launched its Elevate28 structure in February 2026. The question for clients is not simply who runs VML next. It is whether the integrated model can keep working through a leadership transition.

The Handover Lands Mid-Restructure

Elevate28 is designed to move WPP from a holding company into a single company built around four operating units: Media, Creative, Production and Enterprise Solutions, across four regions including APAC. WPP is targeting £500 million in gross annualised cost savings by 2028 while trying to simplify how clients access capabilities across the group.

That makes continuity a commercial issue. WPP Creative, including Enterprise Solutions, reported a 4.9% like-for-like decline in revenue less pass-through costs in the first half of 2026, although the second-quarter decline moderated to 3.5%. APAC was down 3.8% for the half but improved to 0.3% growth in the second quarter.

The operating model therefore has to prove itself while the business is still stabilising. Clients will judge whether integration produces faster decisions, cleaner accountability and more coherent access to creative, data, technology and production, rather than another layer of coordination.

WPP Merges Ogilvy, VML, AKQA Into New Creative Division

WPP merges Ogilvy, VML, and AKQA into one creative division, abandoning its holding company model to cut £500M in costs. CMOs need to understand how this reshuffles agency relationships.

Mission MediaLeighton Cosseboom

Integration Has To Survive The Person Who Built It

Cook was central to the recent architecture. Under his leadership, VML combined brand experience, customer experience, commerce, data and enterprise technology across more than 55 markets. His move into the WPP Creative role then placed multiple agency brands, including VML, Ogilvy, Grey, Burson, AKQA, Landor and Design Bridge & Partners, inside a broader integrated structure.

Campbell offers continuity rather than an external reset. He has spent more than 25 years at VML and has served as president of VML, global president of VMLY&R, global chief client officer and CEO of VML North America.

That institutional memory lowers one type of transition risk, but it raises the bar for execution. If the new structure depends too heavily on individual relationships at the top, the integration has not yet become an operating system. The stronger proof is whether teams share incentives, client context, technology and decision rights regardless of who occupies the global CEO seat.

APAC Makes Continuity A Local Test

The transition is especially relevant in Asia Pacific because WPP has already pushed more responsibility into market-level creative leadership. WPP Creative has named dedicated CEOs across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, with several of those leaders also continuing to run VML or Ogilvy in their markets.

At the same time, Ogilvy changed its APAC leadership in June as Kent Wertime retired and Chris Reitermann shifted his focus to WPP Greater China. That means local clients are experiencing the wider WPP simplification through multiple leadership layers at once.

For regional CMOs, the practical test is whether local authority stays clear. Integration can make a network easier to buy, but only if market leaders still have enough autonomy to adapt work, talent and channel decisions to local conditions without waiting for global approval.

Integrated Agencies Gain Ground as APAC Brands Seek Fewer Partners

Integrated agencies are gaining traction as APAC brands consolidate vendor lists. Two-thirds of marketers plan fewer partnerships by 2027, reshaping how agencies compete.

Mission MediaLeighton Cosseboom

What CMOs Should Ask Before March 2027

Large clients do not need to wait for the formal handover to test the model. They can ask now who owns decisions across global, regional and local teams, which executive relationships remain unchanged, and how escalation will work when agency brands disagree over scope, budget or creative direction.

They should also ask for evidence that integration is producing measurable benefits. That can include fewer handoffs, faster briefing cycles, shared audience data, clearer ownership of outcomes and lower duplication across agencies. If the only visible change is a new reporting line, the client proposition has not materially improved.

WPP has framed Elevate28 around becoming a simpler, integrated company. Cook's departure turns that ambition into an early stress test. If Campbell can inherit the network without slowing client work or reopening old silos, WPP will have evidence that its new operating model is becoming institutional. If not, the succession will expose how much of the integration still depends on the leaders who designed it.