The news: Holding company WPP launched WPP Open Pro on Thursday, a self-serve AI tool piloted by Google and other clients that creates ad campaigns from start to finish in a push to attract small businesses. The tool is a new version of WPP’s current AI-powered marketing platform WPP Open.

• WPP Open Pro enables brands to develop campaign strategies by leveraging proprietary WPP data, partner datasets, and industry insights. The platform then streamlines the creation of branded content for multiple ad channels, with the ability to publish directly to major platforms.
• Clients can connect to WPP’s Open Media Studio tool for bid optimization, programmatic management, and advanced audience identification.
• Open Pro’s video- and image-generation features use genAI models like Google’s Veo and Imagen, OpenAI’s Sora, DALL-E, and GPT Image, and Adobe Firefly. Text generation pulls from models including ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini.
• Matt McNeany, leader of WPP’s Open Pro project, stated the upgraded tool gives small businesses “access to professional-grade tools and AI capabilities” typically reserved for Fortune 500 clients, adding that feedback so far has been “tremendous.”

WPP leans on AI: In an AI-dominated ad landscape, brands are demanding more for less—requiring WPP to increase AI investment. WPP Open Pro is accelerating the holdco’s AI push after a turbulent year marked by client losses and competitor wins.

• WPP has been pushing WPP Open without much success so far, contributing to a 71% drop in pre-tax profits in H1 2025.
• WPP recently partnered with Google in a $400 million, five-year deal to build its AI tools and services. The deal involves Google AI powering WPP’s Open Intelligence platform, enabling WPP to build and deploy customized audience models and gain preferred access to Google’s AI services.

Will it pay off? The move is a step in the right direction for WPP as clients increasingly bypass agencies due to rapid AI adoption. Incorporating AI into agency and holding-company models is now required to succeed. Competitors like Publicis have surged ahead of WPP in the AI race, building sophisticated AI tools and expanding their first-party data through strategic acquisitions. While WPP Open Pro shows promise, WPP now has to prove that the tool drives results.

What it means for marketers: WPP’s newest move means marketers can continue to expect greater automation, cost savings, and a shift in agency relationships. The platform’s ability to generate full campaigns means smaller marketers can tap into genAI capabilities once exclusive to major brands, making marketing more accessible—but also raising the bar for differentiation. Marketers will need to focus on developing a unique brand voice, creative strategy, and authenticity to stand out in an automated landscape.