Ad Finitum: WPP and the death of a sector
"In just 18 months..."
William Phillips
As the standard bearer for British supremacy in "marketing services", Martin Sorrell's WPP stood in apostolic succession to Saatchi & Saatchi. Sorrell had been the financial brain behind the brothers' daring deals. He had learned from their mistakes: no adman playing tycoon, he was a business school hustler who let creative types get on with their work while gently herding them into a world-wide conglomerate. Sorrell understood cash flow and shunned the wilder shores of ambition - management consulting, High Street banks - where Charles...