WPP AUNZ reports profit slump following sales decline
Local holding group WPP AUNZ has continued its run of bad news, reporting a 12.8% fall in earnings before interest and tax on the back of a 4% sales decline.
The group’s previous report to the ASX last October saw the business’ share price collapse 28% and the abrupt departure of then-CEO Mike Connaghan.
who’d have thought that some bean counters in London making decisions to merge agencies with no consideration at all for people, clients or cultures in this part of the world would somehow damage the brands and business down under
Anyone with the ability to think deeper than a birdbath; which makes me wonder whether it was as easy as that. Was it perhaps part of a darker plan?
Call me crazy, but, If you stop duplicating roles, having joint ceos and joint managing partners in your creative agencies like VMLY&R, you might be able to reduce cost, reward and perhaps even retain talent. Not to mention make a decision…
Wonderfully put!
Wow, so Active Display is so bad it has become its own line item in the report and is responsible for -$62m impairment on the bottom line???
Poor financial results? Let’s merge more agencies. Been doing it for the last decade, maybe something different will happen!
And that is what you call the STW effect…such a great opportunity absolutely obliterated.
My prediction: The large advertising networks are in decline, but WPP is in the worst shape by far. It’s leadership style is enormously disliked both externally and internally and there exists no vision to turn the business into a nimble, contemporary and above all sustainable business that people wish to work in. Clients just can’t afford to be associated with company that doesn’t care for its staff and whose staff just don’t want to work there, it’s a model that simply works for a bunch of out of date acountants at the very top and for no one else including its shareholders. If you own shares isn’t his company you’ve obviously never worked in it. It’s a house of cards.
“bunch of out of date acountants at the very top”, absolutely, who have instituted such a degree of mind-numbing, creativity-killing red tape and admin for even the simplest task that productivity is being suffocated across the group.
But the accountants are happy.
When ad agencies focus on doing good work and getting results for clients over profit, they become profitable.
When ad agencies focus on profit over doing good work and getting results for clients, they become broke.