As would-be buyers and critics circle, WPP's siege mentality deepens

"The eulogies for WPP keep getting drafted, yet the holding company refuses to play along. That's the subtext running through a wave of conspicuously aligned LinkedIn posts in recent weeks, each one offering a reminder that the onetime market leader is still very much in the game. "There's been a lot of negativity around WPP," wrote one WPP Media director. "But as the dust starts to settle, we are seeing wins happen more and more." "All the negativity around WPP Media is incessant," posted an exec at WPP Media's Choreograph unit, a day later. "There is a lot of noise right now which doesn't reflect what's really happening," added a third WPP Media exec."

"Whether the posts were coordinated hasn't been confirmed; a WPP spokesperson didn't respond by time of publication. If they weren't, the parallels are striking enough to feel like choreography - the same tone, the same defensive posture, the same insistence that the narrative around WPP has veered into exaggeration."

"And yet, if anything the posts serve to reinforce the narrative around the business. The company has bagged a handful of wins this year (Reckitt, Mastercard and Johnson & Johnson, to name a few) but it has also shed a significant share of its market value, lost a host of marquee accounts and issued two profit warnings. The idea that critics are somehow overstating the pressure and unjustly piling indignities upon the company's "unsung heroes," to quote one post, doesn't quite hold against reality."

A series of similar LinkedIn posts from WPP Media employees pushed back against negative narratives and highlighted recent client wins. The posts used a defensive tone, described external commentary as excessive noise, and emphasized employee resilience. The business has secured notable accounts but has also lost major clients, seen a sharp decline in market value and issued two profit warnings. LinkedIn is being used as a PR channel via employee influencers to reshape sentiment. Observers caution that such correction efforts can be effective only if perceived as genuine given the company's substantive financial and client setbacks.

Read at Digiday