Last Thursday, WPP announced the launch of WPP Open Pro, an expansion of its existing AI marketing system, WPP Open.
The launch comes off the back of another recent announcement WPP would be partnering with Google on implementing and deploying AI Google products, like Gemini, across the holding group.
WPP Open is the company’s AI-powered marketing platform that equips its employees in every department with tools to plan, create content, and media plan and buy.
The new offering exists as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool for brands of all sizes, which has the potential of expanding WPP’s customer base to include small businesses that may not have had access to WPP historically.
What is WPP Open Pro?
WPP Open Pro will draw from WPP’s foundational data to develop campaign strategies, plan campaigns, and deliver channel-specific ads.
The advertiser will then be able to hand over what they’ve created to WPP’s Open Media Studio or publish the ads directly to channels. WPP Open Pro, like WPP Open, is built upon Google’s AI technology.
AI-Powered Ad Strategy
The platform offers WPP’s data and insights, which marketers can use in campaign development. This feature is powered by AI agents which operate on WPP’s industry data.
Creating Content At Scale
Through WPP Open Pro, users are also able to generate brand-specific content. The content creation, which can be done in seconds, helps marketers automate production processes to improve performance.
Campaign Publishing
WPP’s clients can also publish campaigns directly onto ad platforms through WPP Open Pro. Users also have the option of utilising WPP’s Open Media Studio–the company’s end-to-end media planning tool–when publishing campaigns.
The End of the Traditional Agency?
The traditional agency model has been disrupted in recent years, widely because of AI. Almost every role within the agency has been altered, and clients expect more for less.
These shifts have resulted in economic strain for the advertising industry. WPP reported £6.6 billion in revenue, a 7.8 percent decrease from the same time last year. The move to offer a self-serve platform for advertisers is a calculated risk for WPP.
With WPP’s new ‘self-serve’ solution, brands are able to produce content and complete agency tasks, without needing to be a traditional client – potentially disrupting the agency model further.
Clients can activate campaigns while still collaborating with WPP through its services. Smaller and mid-sized agencies that were limited before can now access self-serve advertising tools which can boost their campaigns. For WPP, Open Pro represents not just an ad diversification strategy but a way to reach clients who may otherwise not collaborate with its agencies.
The holding company recently saw Cindy Rose take the reigns as its new CEO. Rose served at Microsoft before joining, which could signal even more AI-focused direction of travel, and a bigger shake-up for WPP.
“The rapid acceleration of technology is fundamentally reshaping our industry and WPP is embracing the opportunity to lead that change.” said Rose. “This is about transforming how marketing is delivered, expanding our total addressable market, and giving more brands the tools they need to lead in the AI era.”
