Mastercard Shifts Global Media to WPP, Signaling Confidence in AI-Driven Advertising

Published on August 19, 2025

Snapshot: Mastercard is reshaping its agency lineup, awarding global media duties to WPP Media after more than a decade with Dentsu’s Carat. The payments giant also brought in Ogilvy, another WPP agency, to lead community-building initiatives across digital platforms. Interpublic’s McCann remains in place as Mastercard’s lead creative and social shop. COMvergence estimates Mastercard spent about $180 million on media last year, underscoring the significance of the shift.

The win represents a badly needed boost for WPP Media, which recently rebranded from GroupM after losing key accounts like Coca-Cola in North America and Mars. The agency has been strengthening its artificial intelligence capabilities, including the launch of its Open Intelligence tool, designed to predict audience behavior and campaign performance while reducing reliance on legacy ID-based targeting. 

Leadership is also in transition, with Microsoft veteran Cindy Rose set to replace Mark Read as WPP’s CEO in September. Rose emphasized that the Mastercard appointment validates WPP’s AI-led transformation strategy. CEO Brian Lesser of WPP Media echoed the sentiment, framing the win as proof of momentum behind the group’s integrated, AI-powered offering.

This decision signals Mastercard’s growing emphasis on AI-driven marketing and marks a pivotal test for WPP as it navigates a challenging year in client retention and revenue growth.

Full story: MediaPost

Other news

Christopher Willis now Chief Marketing Officer at Outseer

August 19, 2025
Christopher Willis has been hired as Chief Marketing Officer at Outseer. He joins from AXIOS HQ where he held the same role.Previously, Willis has also held senior marketing and operations roles at Acrolinx, Perfecto Mobile, Verivo, and Modelgolf.Willis hosts comms-focused The WordBirds Podcast, and also serves as an advisor at Vidoso.In addition to his professional accomplishments, Willis stays c

Sarah Pease joins Taulia as VP of Marketing

August 21, 2025
Taulia has hired Sarah Pease as VP, Marketing. Recently, she was Director of Global Partner Marketing at Docusign.Before that, Pease served as Chief Marketing Officer at FinLync. She also held senior Marketing roles at Kyriba, Events.com, Reval and Symantec.Pease has a B.A. in Latin American Studies and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.In addition to her professional accomplishment