francine: in 1971, wire and plastic products, plc, made shopping baskets. in 2022, wpp, as it is now known, is the biggest advertising firm on the planet. sometime between then and now, specifically in 1989, mark read walked through the doors and played a starring role in that transformation. in 2018, read became chief executive of a firm in crisis. the man who had made the giant, martin sorrell, had stepped down. today, we speak to mark read about a new age of advertising and how to run a business fit for the 21st century. ♪ mark, thank you so much for joining us on "leaders with lacqua". what does it mean being an ads man, ad leader in 2022? mark: [laughs] well, i mean, our industry is at such an interesting phase, isn't it? we've just been through the pandemic, we have come out i think in many ways, ever more

relevant. but we have faced a whole period of continued innovation with new advertising formats, new digital companies being launched, e-commerce taking off. our industry is changing and changes all the time. but it is changing now more than ever. francine: but if you look at the pace of change over the last 10 years, it has been incredible. mark: yeah. francine: can you go through the same pace of change in the next 10 years? mark: i think so. i mean, look, we are a big company. we have 100,000 people around the world. we also try to have the heart, if you like, of a small company. to be very responsive. we have people working day-to-day on individual clients, working on client briefs. it is that trick, isn't it? how we get the scale of a big company, but also how we operate quickly and nimbly. francine: other rivals are very focused on spending in tech. what is the future for wpp? mark: i think what makes wpp special is creativity. it is ideas. you know, without ideas, there is nothing on these tech platforms. what would there be on facebook or instagram or youtube without creative work, creative ideas, and all of the things that creative people make? i think that creativity is what makes wpp distinctive and where we want to invest. now, of course, with technology,

how we bring those ideas to life, where they live, where they exist, that is changing very quickly. so it is really about, sort of, building out what we could call the traditional skills of the past, but blending them with a real understanding of data and technology you need in the future. francine: your role is changing, i guess. is it still just pure advertising, or is it more advising clients and navigating these uncertain times? mark: well, wpp is much more an advertising company today than we used to be. now, clearly, advertising is important to what we do. when you start with that, and the customer says what do you do, we are much more than an advertising company. we are as likely to be asked by a client, how do i succeed on amazon as we are, what do you think of this television ad? so, we have had to learn a tremendous number of new skills over the last 10 years. francine: what happens over the next five years? is it going to be amazon? is it going to be twitter? is there something else that

will be the hot new thing? mark: one good thing about wpp, we do not need to make those decisions. consumers will decide and we need to be where the consumers are. it is our job, i think, to understand all of those platforms and help our clients understand what is most relevant, where can they reach their consumers most effectively, what is going to deliver the high return on investment? we are data and technology and fact-driven today. so, it is both the creative ideas but also the financial returns that are important. francine: and, how did you end up in advertising? mark: sort of by mistake, really. [laughter] francine: a good mistake or a bad mistake? mark: well, i left university. i did not know what i wanted to do. i wrote to a few business leaders and companies. i ended up working at wpp in the very early days. and, i think, when i started i never thought i would end up sitting in this seat, if you like, at all. no. francine: what do you like most about your job? mark: i think, the people. i mean ultimately we are a people business. we have clients who are people, we have creatives who are people, we have technologies who are people. and a lot of what my job is as ceo of the company is to give

those people motivation to tell them where we are going, to encourage them to come up and do their best work, to encourage them to collaborate. but ultimately the job is as much, sometimes you think you are a psychologist as as you are a business leader i think sometimes. francine: what is your best piece of advice? i don't know if it is psychological, but if there is an account you need to get that you are worried will go to a rival, what is your pep talk like? mark: my pep talk? well, i love pitches. i love leading from the front and spending times with teams. i love to see the work we are doing. when we pitch a new business is often when we come together. so, i try to put myself in the seat of the client. you know, what is the client going to think when they see this work? are they going to be excited? is it going to turn their brand around? how is it going to resonate with their consumers? so as much as possible, i try to play that role. francine: how have clients changed over the years you have been in advertising? do they ask for different

services now, because the challenges are so much bigger? mark: i think clients have a tough time, don't they? we've never lived through a period of so many crises. they're trying to manage enormous budgets. vast, global enterprises. they need trusted advisors and i think that is, in a sense, why they are looking to wpp and to our agencies and people to bring. a real sense of, if we do this, what will the impact be? uh, from packaging through to advertising, through to public relations, through to design. and there are many, many new skills. you know, the days of old, if you like, a lot of this was a matter of judgment.

and they looked at and tested

every element of what we do as a business, from coming to develop great creative work in china or india or south africa, to can we embrace, you know, the media revolution? can we show them how to partner with facebook and google and how to embrace tiktok, and every part of our business? and selected us as their partner. and that talks to the power we have and the scale that we have. francine: is it more difficult now because of the cost-of-living crisis, because of the, you know, economic downturn? do you start feeling it already? mark: look, as i speak to you today, i think clients spend is amazingly resilient, actually. and we can look at next year and we can worry about next year. you know, and it is easy -- i've sort of learned not to worry about things i can't control. i can't control the economic environment. all i can do is put wpp and our clients in the best position to navigate it. and when i look at it like that i think, actually what we do is super relevant. clients have got to demonstrate to consumers what they are doing. we are working with supermarkets to demonstrate how they can help customers save money. clients have got to innovate. they have got to, in many cases,

put price increases through. so i think the need for marketing is not going to go away. and there is no doubt in the next 12 months will be challenging, but i think we will come out of it as we have done before, in a stronger position. ♪ francine: up next, client and consumer. the ad man must speak to both. with people asking ever more from brands, we look at the balance between profit and values. values. ♪ welcome to ameriprise.

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mark: you know, we talk to clients about, how much are you going to spend next year, what is the economic outlook going to be? i think, that really is the period of great uncertainty. i think what we say to clients is, those who have done well should continue to support their brands. because that is ultimately what they need to do. as we saw even during the pandemic, those companies that sort of cut their marketing quickly found it hard to reinstate. we say to clients, don't be fiscally irresponsible, if you like, but do continue investing behind your business, invest behind your brands. that is what they are coming to us to ask is how to do that. how do you do that in 2023 means different things. what do i do that on tiktok? how do i succeed on amazon? how do i manage my reputation? you know, how important are these influences we are talking about? they are very different questions from five or 10 years ago. francine: let's say i had a $10 million budget. mark: yeah. francine: i want to talk to the

u.s. consumer, not alienate china, and keep my reputation intact. how do i deploy that money? mark: well, you start -- [laughter] what products are you in, francine? what is the product? francine: what should i be in? [laughter] let's say an energy drink. mark: look, so we are working with a number of soft drink companies. i think you gotta to have a great idea.

year, how the year unfolds. francine: do you think 2023 is

the hardest year, or 2024 could be even harder if there is a lag effect in some of these inflation numbers? mark: i don't know, i mean, look, 2020 was a pretty difficult year. [laughter] so, we have been going through difficult years. there are many reasons to be optimistic, i think, about the future for our industry. it comes back to the types of questions clients are asking us. they are much more significant, they are much more important. you know, the secret success of any company is to grow. and i think that we, wpp, and our industry more broadly, can can be really at the heart of our clients' growth. you know, how do they succeed with consumers? how do they reach them in new areas? how do they innovate? how do they create new brands? those questions are going to be just as relevant next year. you know, this whole digital transformation is going to continue. francine: yeah, yeah. mark: so these things are not going to go away. francine: so what is the secret sauce of being a great chief executive? do you, do you empower? do you micromanage? what are you like as a chief executive? mark: i like to empower. i mean, i can't do it all on my own. and, as i say, i need to get the best out of the people that i work for. so, i like to lead a little bit

from the front, spending time with clients, spending time in pitches. you know, we are a competitive industry. you know, we are in pitches day-to-day. we win or lose. business. so, i think, you have to do that. but i also have to create a company which is collaborative. i think there is a tension between people that want to win, people that want to collaborate. but that is what we are trying to do, you know? the desire to do great work, to really push the boundaries for clients, but also desire to work together, because sometimes no one person has a monopoly on the ideas. francine: where will you be in five years? mark: i think that in five years we might, we will look different, and the same. things will be the same. i think it's our belief in creativity, you know, investments in data and technology, but we will probably be a slightly bigger business. you know, today we are 11,000 people in india, 6000 people in brazil, 7000 people in china. i think those numbers will increase. they will probably increase faster than the number of people we have here in the u.k. or u.s. i mean, we are a u.k. company in a sense, but we are really a global company that is headquartered in the u.k.

and the u.k. today is only 12% of our business. you know, i don't know that will be wildly different. but i think we will be bigger in other parts of the world. francine: mark, thank you so much for your time today. mark: thanks, francine. thank you. ♪ as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable 5g network. with no line activation fees or term contracts. saving you up to 60% a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities.

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emily: thank you, andy, so much for coming down. it is really wonderful to have you here in person. andy: it is my pleasure to be here. thanks for having me. emily: and i actually found out we lived in the same dorm in college. just a few years apart. so, it has been almost a year since you took over, from jeff,