Democratisation of advertising driven by digital platforms: WPP's Mark Read at WAVES Summit 2025
At the inaugural of
WAVES Summit 2025
,
Mark Read
, chief executive officer of
WPP
, addressed the future of advertising, outlining the significant and evolving nature of the industry. He noted that advertising is a trillion-dollar global industry that has shown strong recovery post-COVID. 'Advertising has long been part of successive technology revolutions,' he said.
Read emphasised the continued importance of advertising for companies to promote their brands, highlighting the increasing value of brands due to consumer trust.
Another key driver that Read identified was the growth of small and medium-sized businesses, particularly in India, alongside the expansion of new advertising models like search and social media. He pointed out that these developments have democratised advertising, making it more accessible through platforms provided by technology companies such as Google. 'This accessibility has enabled a new generation of entrepreneurs to launch ventures and reach customers,' said Read.
He also discussed the broader societal contributions of advertising, extending beyond its direct impact on economic growth. Read highlighted its role in funding media, schools, drama, entertainment, movies and technology companies (enabling free services like search engines, maps, social media, and email), as well as creative platforms like YouTube.
Read contextualised the current changes within advertising as part of the "fifth industrial revolution," with technology revolutions historically shaping the industry. He cited the impact of television, online advertising, mobile technology following the
iPhone
launch and the subsequent transformation driven by social information.
The CEO of global advertising giant, WPP, Read argued that AI represents a critical shift, potentially more significant than previous technological revolutions, as computers can now perform tasks previously considered exclusive to human capabilities, such as writing, creating visuals, analysing data and making recommendations. While acknowledging that AI may not replicate human creativity in its entirety, Read emphasised its powerful ability to augment human creative processes.
He detailed how WPP sees AI affecting three core aspects of their business: how they work, how they produce work and how consumers experience work. He mentioned WPP's investment in a platform called "WPP Open," designed to integrate the power of AI and
generative AI
across their teams.
Read further explained how AI is changing the production of work, referencing WPP's production arm, Hogarth and their use of the WPP Open platform to produce video using new generative video models, including Google's latest advancements in motion AI. He acknowledged that generative video remains a complex field requiring expertise but suggested the results can be significant.
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