What’s gone wrong at WPP? The crown slips at the world’s biggest advertising group

Exodus of big clients, falling profits and dire forecasts raise prospect of a once ‘unthinkable’ breakup

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dark joke is doing the rounds in adland that Wire and Plastic Products, the Kent-based basketmaker that Martin Sorrell bought 40 years ago as a vehicle to build a global advertising giant, might outlast WPP.

For decades the financial success and dominance of WPP – its 100,000 employees service global clients from Ford to Coca-Cola – has been the corporate manifestation of Britain’s shining reputation for creative advertising.

WPP has housed some of the most prestigious agency networks – from J Walter Thompson to Young & Rubicam – producing globally resonant campaigns such as Dove’s Real Beauty, which challenged stereotypical portrayals of women.