India now WPP's fifth-largest market globally, says CEO Mark Read

In a world plagued by uncertainties and the coronavirus scare, India appears to be providing a beacon of hope for advertising giant WPP. The domestic market 'stood out' in an otherwise challenging 2019 for WPP, growing 10 per cent in terms of top line, ahead of Brazil, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Read on Tuesday. The company follows a January-December accounting year.

On a four-day visit to India, Read, who took over from predecessor Martin Sorrell in September 2018, has been accompanied by WPP's global executive committee on the tour. They will hold their first international meeting in the country over the next two days, coming at a time when Read has put a three-year transformation plan in place at the world's largest advertising company. On Tuesday, Read also announced that WPP had bagged the global advertising mandate for tech giant Intel, whose ad budget in 2019 was estimated at $1.4 billion.

The Indian unit of WPP will also work on the business, said industry sources, which will see the group harness skill sets from various verticals, including data analytics, creative commerce and technology apart from advertising.

According to analysts, WPP's Intel win, billed as one of the largest advertising pitches in recent years, represents the path the company wishes to take in the coming years. Experts said it was an account where WPP creative personnel would be pushed to provide cutting-edge creative work with technology at the heart of it.

Forecasts by the top media networks in India, including WPP’s GroupM, Madison and Dentsu have pegged domestic advertising growth for 2020 between 10.4 per cent and 10.9 per cent, saying that India will continue to be among the fastest-growing markets in the world. The domestic ad growth will be led by digital advertising, they say, with its share in total advertising standing at 27-30 per cent. WPP itself has been quick to pick up the cues and adapt to change, working closely with top clients in the country, including Hindustan Unilever, Colgate and Google across traditional and digital advertising, setting up innovation hubs and tying up with domestic start-ups and internet firms in recent months. WPP's Group M is the largest media agency in the country, with an estimated 50 per cent share of the market, said experts.