WPP is set to appoint Tyler Turnbull, the global chief executive of McCann, as global chief executive of WPP Creative, according to reports, succeeding Jon Cook, who is due to step down by March 2027 after nearly three decades with VML and its predecessor agencies.
Turnbull took charge of McCann in December, after Omnicom completed its acquisition of Interpublic Group, and leads one of the three creative networks under Omnicom Advertising alongside BBDO and TBWA. Before McCann, he spent more than a decade at IPG’s FCB, joining in 2014 to turn around its Canadian business, going on to lead the New York office, becoming North America chief executive in 2019 and global chief executive in 2022. FCB has since been merged into BBDO following the Omnicom deal. He also interviewed for the global chief executive role at Ogilvy before that appointment went elsewhere in late 2025. WPP had not formally confirmed the appointment in initial reports, though a company statement quoted in later coverage framed his mandate as deepening connections between its creative brands and its capabilities in media, data, production, commerce and technology. Cook currently serves as global chief executive of both VML and WPP Creative and will continue in both roles through March next year to oversee the transition, according to reports. WPP has already named Eric Campbell, currently chief executive of VML and WPP Creative North America, as Cook’s successor at VML, effective March 2027, while he retains his North American responsibilities. Cook took on the additional WPP Creative leadership role in February, when WPP introduced the division as part of its Elevate28 transformation strategy under group chief executive Cindy Rose. WPP Creative brings together the group’s creative, public relations and design capabilities, including Ogilvy, VML, Grey, AKQA, Burson, Landor and Design Bridge and Partners. The strategy does not merge the individual agency brands. Instead, WPP aims to create a common operating model enabling greater collaboration, resource sharing and access to capabilities across its agencies while protecting their distinct cultures. In a statement quoted in coverage, Turnbull said his ambition is to set a new standard for the industry with a connected offering that protects the unique magic and cultures of the iconic brands, and called the opportunity to lead WPP Creative at this pivotal moment a tremendous honour. For the advertising industry, the move is notable on two levels. First, it would take one of Omnicom’s most senior creative leaders and place him at the centre of its biggest rival’s creative strategy, a rare cross-holding-company transfer at this level, less than a year after he took the McCann job. Second, it signals where WPP believes the business is heading: integrated, capability-led offers sold to clients across brands, rather than single-agency relationships. Clients increasingly ask holding companies to assemble teams across creative, media, data and commerce, and leadership appointments like this one are designed to make that assembly credible. McCann had not commented on succession in the reports, leaving an open question about who leads one of Omnicom’s flagship networks next. The transition timeline, with Cook remaining until March 2027, gives WPP an unusually long runway to settle the new structure, and gives the incoming leader time to learn a group whose scale few executives have run from the inside.
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