‘Frenemies’ no more; Now Google and Facebook are ‘flexible friends’, says WPP’s Sorrell
Sir Martin Sorrell – the man who famously labelled Google and Facebook as “frenemies” of the advertising world – has revealed that he no longer sees them that way.
Instead, WPP boss Sorrell said he now sees the giant platforms as “flexible friends”, nudged in that direction by political and public pressure.
Speaking at Advertising Week in New York, Sorrell referenced the iconic British advertising slogan for the Access credit card, “Your flexible friend”. The brand was later taken over by MasterCard.
Facebook and Yahoo are the least of WPPs problems.
If I were Sorrell I’d worry about the innovative, disruptive businesses poised to be the next Facebook.
Then there’s the controversy regarding rebates and other non-transparent business practices. The Association of National Advertisers report finds them “pervasive” and WPP is at the center of it all. Clients are not happy and this has nothing to do with competition.
Lastly and perhaps most importantly, there’s the issue of leadership. Who will steer the WPP ship through rough waters? CEO Martin Sorrell is a financial manager who has built WPP (aka, Wire and Plastic Products) by buying profitable companies and adding them to the holding company.
But Sorrell has never worked on the media side. He is drawn to the spreadsheet and lacks the vision required to transform WPP into a modern player in a rapidly evolving industry. Compare leadership at WPP with the leaders of Facebook and Google.
When Facebook first announced its IPO, Sorrell commented that he “doesn’t see how Facebook will commercialize itself.” Facebook had a growing membership of 2 billion users and the CEO of the largest media company in the world couldn’t envision how they would commercialize themselves. That says it all.