WPP is looking at hiring 7,000-8,000 employees in India in the next five years, says Global CEO Mark Read. Read, who is here for the company’s board meeting, spoke to Naziya Alvi Rahman about their scale-up plans, his belief in India’s growth possibilities & talent, the country being WPP’s fastest growing market, and more. Below are edited excerpts:

What brings the WPP board meeting to India this year?

It's a really unique point in India's history with the G20 Summit over the weekend and India becoming the world's most populous country this year. One can really see the importance of it now. It's something we at WPP have known for some time. India today is our fifth biggest market- a real area of growth, innovation and vibrancy for the company. We really wanted the board to come here as we haven't been here since 2017. We wanted the board to come and see how the market has developed here.

As you mentioned, India is your fifth largest market, as well as one of the fastest growing centres, what factors are working in favour of WPP in India?

India has been our fastest growing market for the last 10 years. It's been driven both by domestic and international growth. We have around 10,500 people in India, out of them, 50 per cent are working with Indian companies and clients and the other 50 per cent are supporting our global businesses. What's been amazing is that both these areas have grown substantially. India contributes close to 4-5% of our global business.

According to your latest financial numbers, India grew by 0.8% in H1 compared to 37% growth last year for the same period. This shows a significant drop. What were the factors that caused this decline, and how do you plan to regain the growth trajectory?

GroupM expects to grow about 12% this year overall. But there's no doubt about the slowdown. Second half of the year is awaited and we are hoping for a rapid growth. India perhaps is the only market that didn't decline in 2022. The growth was flat during Covid, but in 2021 and 2022, we saw very strong growth. And so, it's no surprise, against those comparatives, that despite a slightly tougher first half of the year, we hope to see strong growth maintained in the second half of the year, and for the many years to come.

In a recent statement, you said 50% of WPP’s tech services for global clients are offshored to India, and you are looking to scale this up rapidly. Could you please share your plans for scaling up?

We have a really great offshore development business here. We call them centres of excellence. These are companies or parts of WPP that help people with production, building e-commerce websites, implementing Adobe or Salesforce and technologies. Those skills are in great demand. What we have in India is really strong technical expertise at a price point that makes it extremely competitive.

Having said that, I don't see India as a low-cost country. It's really about the combination of skill & expertise and a price point. We see demand for those services expanding around the world as technology has impacted the advertising communications business and has become much more people-intensive. GroupM has been the fastest growing part of our business in India. AI is going to drive the demand for technology services. It's a really important role that India can play in delivering AI services to WPP’s global client list as well.

Coming back to the scale-up question, can we expect any announcement about an expansion plan in India?

We got things that we need to announce. It's really a continuation of what we've been doing so far. A lot of it will come from organic growth, expanding the capabilities that we have. We have been bringing a lot of our IT people to support the company. We will be spending our finance capabilities on technology development centres here as well.

We have been talking about doubling the size of WPP business in India in the next five years. I think that’s achievable. That would mean we'll be hiring 7,000- 8,000 people in the company over the next five years. There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to do that. So, that's the scale of the investment that we're going to make in this market.

WPP won the prestigious 'Company of the Decade' title at Cannes Lions 2023. How does the company differentiate itself from other agencies in the business?

Creativity is integral to WPP’s DNA and to our way of working. Clients come to a company like us because they need the very best ideas. In some ways, it's because we employ creative people, mavericks, people who come up with fantastic ideas. We have people who have a great understanding of marketing strategies and consumers, and we're able to bring them together with our clients to produce groundbreaking work.

The work that we did for Cadbury’s Diwali campaign, with Shah Rukh Khan, is an idea that's been celebrated on a world stage. What does the campaign contain? It contains a creative idea, innovative use of technology, an understanding of the media landscape, and how to develop and deliver it around the world. India can play a really interesting role in the future of our industry which is about creativity and technology. We are in the business of imagination and intelligence, and the role that India can plan is of a country that has great strengths and creativity, as well as great depths of technology expertise. It's a unique market for us.

You are one of the most experienced and influential leaders in the media industry, what according to you are some of the challenges this sector is facing right now?

I think that we do have to navigate our way around privacy, and make sure that the consumer is protected during data collection. Also, I think brand safety challenge is a problem for many of the platforms. We have to make sure our young people are safe when they use this platform, something I feel quite strongly about as a parent.

Any time of change is also a time of uncertainty. We have to understand how we're going to use technology in order to connect the various platforms together and deliver ROI to our clients. We don't blindly leap into the new platforms.

But I think that the role of advertising is substantial. If you look at your phone, and all the apps and functionality that are enabled by advertising (industry mapping, email, social media, search), you will see we are providing or funding great services to consumers that lower the price point for people who couldn't ordinarily afford it. I think that's something that our industry really contributes in a positive way to society.

Before we wrap up, would you like to say something for your team here?

Since I've been here last (March 2020), India has had a difficult time, particularly during the second phase of Covid that hit the country very badly. I think Srini (CVL Srinivas) and our other leaders really stepped up extremely well and the whole team here in India helped each other. Many clients helped us and we helped other clients, I think we should thank them for that. And then we have a great business here and have great potential. Our job is to support them. We're here for we truly understand what's going on in the market and see the potential for India as India, and also for India on a global stage. And in a way, that's what we saw over 2020 as well. So that's what is on the agenda for us at this week at WPP.

Finally, by when do you think India will be in your top three markets?

Forecast is that India is going to be in the top three global economies in 2028. So, maybe that's possible in the next five years.

The remaining part of the interview will be published in Impact Magazine. Stay tuned for the detailed video of our conversation with Mark Read.