WPP didn’t lose 64% of its value because it overspent, but lost it because the holding company model was built on coordination scarcity.

For decades, global brands needed an intermediary to orchestrate creative, media and production across markets. That orchestration was complex, expensive and hard to replicate. The margin made sense.

AI has reduced the cost of coordination close to zero.

That doesn’t eliminate agencies. It removes their structural advantage.

A £500m restructuring simplifies the machine. It does not answer the harder question: what is the machine for?

If a brand can generate, test and deploy at scale inside its own stack, the agency shifts from mandatory infrastructure to optional partner.

Optional changes pricing power. Optional changes leverage. Optional changes negotiation dynamics in downturns.

Until the industry defines what scarce capability a holding company truly owns in a world where intelligence is cheap and distribution is platform-gated, cost savings look defensive rather than directional.

What is a holding company for now?