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Better Customer Experiences through the ‘Non-Movement of Data’
Better Customer Experiences through the ‘Non-Movement of Data’
I am excited to be joining InfoSum as Chairman and CEO. Over the course of my career I have had the opportunity to…
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Brian Lesser shared thisOur industry is changing fast and opening up incredible opportunities for innovation and growth. Bringing media, clients, and technology closer together is how we turn those opportunities into better outcomes for clients. That’s why I’m thrilled Laura Ryan is joining us at WPP Media as Chief Media Officer from IPG/Orion Worldwide. Laura knows how to connect client needs with new capabilities and bring people together to make it happen. She’ll help lead our next phase of innovation across activation and investment, working closely with our partners and with Adam Gerhart, Lauren Wetzel, and client and technology leaders from across our business. I couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead—and to have Laura on our team as we build the future of media.Brian Lesser shared thisWe’re pleased to welcome Laura Ryan as Chief Media Officer. As Chief Media Officer, Laura will oversee our global investment, partnerships, media management, and activation teams and work closely with our global client teams and our technology organization to develop products that drive value for marketers and partners. Laura is joining us from IPG where she was previously Global CEO of Orion Worldwide. With more than three decades of experience across client leadership, product innovation, operational transformation, and talent development, she understands how to bring clients, teams, and partners together to turn ambitious ideas into business results. Welcome to WPP Media, Laura! We’re excited about what we’ll build together.
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Brian Lesser shared thisProud to share that we’re expanding our relationship with DoorDash as their global media partner! Since Wavemaker and DoorDash first teamed up in 2018, we’ve been partners through a period of extraordinary growth and change — from placing DoorDash’s first national media campaigns to supporting their evolution into one of the world’s leading local commerce platforms. Our partnership is a great example of the kind of growth partner we aim to be for our clients: combining global scale and local expertise with an operating model built around our clients' own data and proprietary intelligence. Now, through WPP Open and Open Intelligence, we will help DoorDash move faster, understand consumers better, and drive even more measurable, incremental growth. As media and commerce become more closely linked than ever, I’m excited about what we can build together in this next chapter. Thank you to Tim Castree and the entire DoorDash team for the trust they’re placing in us to continue accelerating their growth — and congratulations to Nancy Hall, Brad Backenstose, and everyone at WPP Media who made this expansion possible!
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Brian Lesser shared thisI’ve long believed that to be the best possible partner for our clients, we need to be the best possible partner in the broader advertising ecosystem as well. I’ve experienced partnership from all sides. At InfoSum, it was the trust and value we built through partnership that allowed us to make data collaboration possible in new ways. It reinforced my belief that innovation, progress, and genuinely new capabilities come when organizations solve problems together. That belief informs how we’re building the future at WPP Media. It's why WPP Open is designed to be as interoperable as possible. And it's why our approach to innovation starts with partnership. Clients deserve to be able to access the tools and data that best fit their needs - enhanced by our expertise, trust, and scale. That’s the thinking behind Made Together, a new series featuring candid conversations with leaders from companies we partner with across media, data, and technology. I’m pleased that our first guest for this series is Jeff Green, Founder and CEO of The Trade Desk. I’ve known Jeff since before he founded The Trade Desk, and it was a privilege to sit down with him to discuss the evolution of programmatic, the essential role of agencies, and why integrated, omnichannel planning is critical to creating better outcomes for brands. We also talk about the future of data and measurement, the importance of earning trust through transparent value creation, and why the next era of marketing will depend on partners working together around real client growth. Thank you to Jeff and The Trade Desk team for a thoughtful, honest, and forward-looking conversation. In upcoming episodes, we’ll talk to other important partners - let me know who you’d like to hear more from. Next up…Google and Amazon. https://lnkd.in/gd9Gjsai
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Brian Lesser shared thisCannes is always a special opportunity to connect with clients and colleagues from around the world, and to leave inspired by new ideas and groundbreaking work. What stood out to me this year is the increasingly essential role media is playing in how the most creative ideas in our industry are shaped, scaled, and brought to life. That made this year’s results especially meaningful. Not only did WPP teams and clients secure 140 Lions across the festival, but WPP Media ended the week as the industry’s most awarded media group for the second year running — with our teams playing a pivotal role in winning 70 Lions for clients, including 4 Grands Prix and 16 Gold Lions across 19 different client brands. From KitKat Heist for Nestlé to Original Forever for adidas, Dove’s r/eal reviews, and more, the work recognized this week demonstrates what’s possible when brave clients and brilliant teams bring creativity, data, technology, and media together in new ways. These results are a powerful reminder of the role media now plays in driving culturally relevant, creatively ambitious, and effective work for clients. I'm especially grateful to our clients for the trust they place in us to bring their ideas and brands to life, and I want to congratulate every WPP Media team member who contributed to this year’s winning and shortlisted work. I’m so proud of what we achieved this week — and even more excited for what comes next. As a unified company powered by media, data, and technology, this is just the beginning of what we can do for our clients, our industry, and the future of creativity.Brian Lesser shared thisWPP Media is the most awarded media group at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the second consecutive year 🦁🏆 As the sun goes down on an unforgettable week, we’re proud to share that our incredible clients were awarded 70 Lions, including four Grand Prix trophies and 16 Gold Lions. 19 different client brands received Lions for WPP Media-credited entries, with Unilever, Nestlé, and The Coca-Cola Company the most awarded with 25, 10 and five, respectively. Together, we put creativity, ambition and effectiveness centre stage, and this recognition is a testament to the industry-leading work done by WPP Media teams on behalf of the world’s leading brands 🩵 Brian Lesser, Global CEO of WPP Media, said: "We are privileged to work with clients whose vision and willingness to push boundaries makes wins like these possible. We’re deeply grateful for the trust our clients place in us to bring their ideas and brands to life with audiences and communities all around the world. "These results are a powerful testament to their vision, the creativity and innovation of our teams across WPP, and the essential role of media in our industry." More on our success story 👇 https://lnkd.in/ga7eGfDd
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Brian Lesser shared thisWhen we launched Xaxis — a decade and a half ago — we were building for a programmatic future many could see coming, but few fully appreciated or understood. Today, we’re on the cusp of the next major shift in our industry: agentic media, which will be even more impactful than programmatic. If we approach this the right way, we can use agentic media to make every media decision more intelligent, more efficient, and more effective for clients. But to realize that potential, we need to build this next era on the right foundation. Without common standards for how buyer and seller agents interact, our industry risks creating more fragmentation, more complexity, and less transparency at exactly the moment clients need greater speed, confidence, and control. That’s why we’re developing a Buyer Agent for Video as part of a broader Agentic Standards Initiative with forward-thinking media owners, platforms, and standards bodies. Together, we’re working to create trusted infrastructure for better media decision-making — with clear controls, approval paths, audit trails, and human oversight and judgment built in. For our clients, the benefits are clear: faster and more consistent access to premium TV and video opportunities, reduced fragmentation, stronger financial and data controls, more transparent decisioning, better application of Open Intelligence, and a safer path to testing and scaling agentic buying. We’re grateful to have so many partners working alongside us to build the foundation for the agentic era, including Comcast Advertising and FreeWheel, Disney Advertising, FOX Advertising, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, IAB Tech Lab, and Prebid.org. And I’m especially grateful to Lauren Wetzel, Ingmar Zach, and our incredible data and technology team for their work bringing this to life. Just as we helped shape the programmatic era, we now have the opportunity to help define and lead the agentic era — making media decisions more intelligent, more transparent, and more interoperable for clients. I’m more excited about the future now than at any time since the birth of programmatic. Let’s build it together. James Rooke Jamie Power Jeff Collins Travis Scoles Anthony Katsur Michael Racic Nicolle Pangis Jon W. Ryan McConville Mark Marshall https://lnkd.in/gW-queTAWPP Media Launches New Agent to Unify Premium Video Across TV EcosystemsWPP Media Launches New Agent to Unify Premium Video Across TV Ecosystems
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Brian Lesser reposted thisBrian Lesser reposted thisO Brasil é um modelo de integração para a WPP globalmente — a forma de trabalhar que já exercitamos no país foi um dos destaques da entrevista de Brian Lesser (CEO global da WPP Media) e Jon Cook (CEO global da WPP Creative) ao Valor Econômico S/A publicado hoje. Na conversa, eles ainda destacam nosso excelente momento no Brasil, atraindo novos clientes com a oferta de soluções de mídia, criatividade, IA e tecnologia totalmente integradas e a serviço do crescimento de seus negócios.
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Brian Lesser shared thisTwelve months ago, we brought our teams around the world together to announce we were becoming WPP Media. Yesterday, we came together again to take stock of just how much we’ve accomplished. We’ve built an organization with a unified vision, a truly differentiated data strategy, stronger client relationships, and real new-business momentum. Our hard work is turning disruption into momentum — and growth for our clients. But yesterday was also about what comes next. As we begin our second year, I’m excited about our next set of firsts: new ways of working with clients, new applications of data and technology, and new agentic capabilities our people will use to define the next era of media. We would not be where we are on our path without the trust of our clients and the hard work and expertise of our incredible people. I’m grateful to every client, colleague, and partner helping us build the future of media. We’re entering a golden age for marketing, and media is right at the heart of it. Year one demonstrated what we can build together. In year two, we’ll show just how far we can go.
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Brian Lesser shared thisIt was great to spend time with our clients and incredible team in Brazil this week and to visit WPP's Campus in São Paulo alongside Jon Cook. Brazil is home to world-class talent with an appetite for doing bold, integrated work — a market where media and creative really do come together to represent the best of our capabilities. Jon and I joined Stefano Zunino and Carolina Buzetto for a joint town hall where the energy in the room was electric. I came away inspired by the creative ambition, pace of digital adoption, and the approach to building brands on display everywhere we went. Our team in Brazil truly celebrates and inspires growth every day and provides a powerful blueprint for driving outcomes for clients everywhere. As we get ready for Cannes in a few weeks, this trip has left me genuinely thrilled about what's possible when media, data, technology, and creative all work together as one — and what's next for us in Brazil. Thank you to Stefano, Carolina, and the entire WPP team in Brazil for the warm welcome and the candor and energy you're so well known for. Até a próxima, Brasil! 🇧🇷
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Brian Lesser shared thisGreat to be back in China this week, and a good reminder of why I always say I learn the most when I'm out in the markets. Had a real and energizing conversation with Tina Chen and Rupert McPetrie at the WPP Media China Open House, covering what it means to be a trusted growth partner to our clients, and how media sitting at the core of everything we do is not just a strategy — it is a competitive advantage. China is a market in a category of its own — the way people consume content, engage with technology, and interact with brands is uniquely its own, and that is exactly what makes it one of the most stimulating places to be in this business. My personal philosophy is simple: grow every day. I see that same energy in this team, and I am genuinely thrilled about what comes next. This is the most exciting time to be in media — and this market is proof of that.Brian Lesser shared thisA big vision and a room full of laughter ✨ WPP Media China welcomed Global CEO Brian Lesser for a special Open House, bringing together teams across Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuxi around one clear theme: media as a growth engine. 🗣️ Brian's message on China was direct and clear: every major global brand needs to win here, and China should be the market that inspires the world with innovation. Hosted by WPP Media China Co-CEOs Rupert McPetrie and Tina Chen, the session was warm, candid, and full of laughter. Together, they covered the priorities that matter most: Elevate28, Keep. Grow. Win., the role of data and AI in how we deliver for clients, and China's place at the forefront of the global picture. A big thank you to Brian for making the trip and sharing his thinking so openly, and to everyone across our five offices who showed up with such enthusiasm. This is the kind of conversation that reminds us why we do what we do, and where we are headed together 🤝 #WPPMediaChina
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Congratulations Jon Cook!
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Congratulations Lauren Wetzel. Well deserved! You are one of one!
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Brian Lesser liked thisBrian Lesser liked this🙏 20 years at Nestlé. A milestone that makes me proud and thankful Over the past two decades, I have had the privilege to grow with a company of iconic brands, global reach and deep relevance in people’s everyday lives. From media communications, digital transformation, eCommerce and chairwomen of the OWM - Organisation Werbungtreibende im Markenverband Advertisers Association in Germany to global media&partnerships and being part of the global WFA Media Board, and now my role in Zone Europe including media transformation, consumer engagement, social media, and partnerships; every chapter has shaped how I think about brands, leadership and acceleration. What stands out most is not only the work itself, but the people behind it — colleagues, teams, agencies, partners and mentors across markets and functions who have inspired, challenged, and supported me along the way. And the right selection of formats to lead: bootcamps, transformation strategies, workshops, leadership talks, communities, councils, steercos, missions, reverse mentoring... Twenty years have reinforced a few beliefs: strong brands are built through consistency and courage; media and consumer engagement are powerful growth drivers; transformation is a continuous mindset; and leadership is about creating clarity, trust and momentum. I am grateful for the journey at Nestlé and with so many partners and agencies so far, proud of what we have built together, and excited for what lies ahead as we continue to evolve how Nestlé connects with consumers, builds brands and drives impact. 🙏 Thank you to everyone who has been part of these 20 years. A special Dankeschön goes to the leaders I learned from Muriel Lienau Gerhard Berssenbrügge Beatrice Guillaume Grabisch Quique Pendavis Tom Buday Natalia Eliseeva Mélanie BRINBAUM Guillaume Le Cunff, to my current team Julie Felden Vasu R. Geraldine Baudron Elen Brown Gwenael Schruoffeneger and to all my peers Klaudia Mushi Maike Abel Nelly Angelova Stéphanie Beaulieu (Perrin) Fernando Realista Carvalho Anna Dabrowska Alain Duvaud Oliver Gentsch Alex Gonnella Anna Ruzmanova Anna Gryshchuk Sokhna GUEYE Agnieszka Guzik Attila Gyopar Polyxeni Kiouri Masako Loeurng Andre Moura Ilias Papadopoulos Elisa Riboldi ★ Xavier Pérez Farrerons Ricardo P. Başak Ünal Tomáš Velan Barbara Vita Milda Žemaitienė and so many more... Here’s to the next chapter, to making Nestlé Communications even more unforgettable. #WeMakeNestlé #transformtogether #BrandBuilding #MediaTransformation
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Brian Lesser reacted on thisBrian Lesser reacted on thisIn my early days at 24/7 Media Inc., David J. Moore told an all-hands to focus on where the puck is going to be, not where it was. Great advice. One problem: I didn't know what a puck was. (Dave, could we talk about cricket instead?) The advice stuck, and I've followed it throughout my entrepreneurial journey: gaming, then entertainment, then sport, and now back into advertising with our network of FAST channels. This summer our team at DICE Verse took an ice hockey World Cup to 40+ countries. I now know what a puck is. 🏒 Last week I told the puck story to 200+ old colleagues at the 24/7 alumni party in New York. It felt like going back to university, with Dave as the Dean. Jonathan Hsu, our CEO, made the big things happen. His mentorship, at 24/7 and ever since, has been incredible. Brian Lesser ran the marketing masterclass, and was the brains behind so many strategic initiatives. And my boss, Nicolle Pangis, made sure I did my homework: one business plan, rewritten what felt like 100 times. These days I write my own. Thank you, Dave, for bringing the class back together, and Risa Goldberg for a brilliant night. To everyone who was there, and everyone who couldn't make it: what I learned from you, at work and in life, has stayed with me. Dave says the friendships are 24/7's greatest accomplishment. Looking around that room, hard to argue. #247Media #AdTech #DigitalAdvertising #Leadership #Entrepreneurship
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Brian Lesser liked thisBrian Lesser liked thisAs I’ve transitioned back into the school year, I’ve been reflecting on my summer at WPP Media at 3 World Trade Center and how grateful I am to have completed the Summer Associate Program. Spending my summer there was truly a dream come true! As a Paid Social Intern at Mindshare, working on the BlackRock account, I supported paid social campaigns across LinkedIn and Reddit through campaign QA, audience research, reporting, performance analysis, and industry research. Working within financial services pushed me outside of what I already knew and challenged me to develop a deeper understanding of the industry, its audiences, and the complexities of marketing in this space. Beyond my day-to-day role, the Summer Associate Program exposed me to different areas of media through panels, networking events, professional development workshops, training sessions, and site visits. Each opportunity gave me a new perspective on the industry and the many directions a career in media can take. Another highlight was collaborating with fellow interns on our capstone project for DoorDash. Our team developed an integrated campaign focused on building long-term loyalty with Gen Z. From conducting research and shaping our strategy to bringing our “DD: On Tour” concept to life, the project allowed me to combine strategic thinking with creativity. We concluded the project by presenting our final campaign directly to the DoorDash team, making it an especially rewarding part of the program. I’m incredibly appreciative of the team I worked alongside and the time they invested in my growth. Their guidance gave me the confidence to ask questions, take on new challenges, and become more thoughtful in the way I approach my work. A special thank you to Rebecca Zimmerman for her mentorship and for always encouraging my professional growth. Thank you to Kaitlyn Vargas for patiently teaching me new processes and being someone I could always turn to with questions. And thank you to Sanna Walia for sharing thoughtful insights that challenged me to look at my work from new perspectives. I also want to thank James Rowland for his support during the application process and for helping me pursue this opportunity in the first place. This role helped me grow tremendously as a young professional. I strengthened my understanding of paid media, learned what it’s like to work within a leading agency environment, and gained so much from the people I had the opportunity to work with throughout the summer. The experience made me even more excited to continue building a career in the industry. I’m so grateful to everyone who made my time at WPP Media one I’ll always remember!
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Brian Lesser liked thisBrian Lesser liked thisExcited about the launch of DashOS, our platform connecting delivery, direct ordering, reservations and loyalty that brings over 600,000 merchants and 56 million monthly active customers closer together. This was an important company-wide effort, but a special shout out to the marketing and comms team Mahalakshmi(Maha) Sankaran, Hayley Thayer 🚀, Leigh Mosley, Cara DeSalvo, Jill Cassidy, Lisa Singh, Anneka Patel, Bobby Khaleghian and of course our fearless GM and leader Parisa Sadrzadeh. We are excited to use our connected intelligence to power growth for our merchants and delightful experiences for our shared customers. https://lnkd.in/gRvCTAU3DoorDash Introduces DashOS: One Platform to Help Restaurants GrowDoorDash Introduces DashOS: One Platform to Help Restaurants Grow
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Brian Lesser liked thisBrian Lesser liked thisIf you happen to be at Advertising Week, come join me with Chase Media Solutions. My fellow panelists Allison McDuffee Steven Paganelli, CDME and I will be discussing “Performance Isn’t Enough: Designing Media for Loyalty and Love” on the main stage. Should be a fun one. #AWNewYork26 WPP Media
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Brian Lesser liked thisBrian Lesser liked thisOn Sunday, in a very hot Hyderabad, I laced up my running shoes to run 19.5 miles after 19.5 hours of travel. I don’t always control my calendar - which often means running at dawn or dusk in cities I don’t always visit because that’s what I’ve committed to doing. And committing to run the NYC Marathon for Daniel's Music Foundation (DMF) is the easy part. Finding moments to run - the negotiation between work, life, and the commitments we make to ourselves (and others) gets complicated. But when you have an important reason to show up for something, the logistics stop being obstacles. For me, that reason is once again, Daniel Trush and DMF. DMF helps individuals with disabilities express themselves through free music programs — live instruction, real instruments, and a real community for people who often have very few spaces where they belong unconditionally. I’ve just started my second board term. I’ve seen what this place does. And anyone who knows me, my good friend Ken Trush, and his son Daniel understands why this cause is so close to my heart. Having a clear “why” changes what you’re willing to do to achieve a goal. It converts effort that's optional into effort that isn't and it's the difference between motivation and commitment. Last year I wasn’t running to win — because my “why” was raising awareness and funds, and it changed what I was willing to do to get there. That was my win. And it’s why I’ll be running the NYC Marathon again this year. Please donate to: https://lnkd.in/gVNkEif8 And if you want to experience DMF in person, the DMF musicians are performing across multiple events throughout Bethel Woods 2026 concert season. For those who don't know, Bethel Woods is the historic site of the original 1969 Woodstock festival, about 90 miles north of NYC. Deloitte is proud to be the Exclusive Lead Sponsor. Three dates remain this year, learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gFBDZtWx I’m so proud of what I accomplished for DMF last year (with a lot of your help), and I’m excited to do it again on November 1!
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Brian Lesser reacted on thisBrian Lesser reacted on this23 years ago today, I officially started working for Google. Little did I know of the adventures that lay ahead, as I introduced myself to the Googlers sharing a small, rented office in London. If I could sit down and share advice with that younger version of myself, or anyone starting their career journey, there is a lot I would say. 1. Find your voice. Speak before you are “ready.” Don't wait for the perfect moment or for someone to ask for your opinion. I used to tell myself to just speak up at least once per meeting. When you have a seat at the table, use your voice, we need it. 2. Find your purpose. If you leave your family to come to work every day, it needs to be worth it. Quit if the passion is gone. If you show up, show up. Your impact matters, make it count. 3. Find your people. People that get you. Challenge you. Rely on you. Make you laugh. You are going to spend a lot of hours together. 4. Trust your gut. I’ve made a few decisions I regret because I let other people influence me. Your instincts are usually right, and will get you further than you think. 5. Treat your career like a jungle gym, not a ladder. Put your hand up for roles, ask for challenges, ask to be considered. There will be years where you feel like you’re flying and years where you’re just trying to keep your head above water. That’s okay. 6. What makes you different is your superpower. Growing up, I was one of only two girls in my advanced math class. Later on, I was an Irish woman navigating two male-dominated industries that had a very specific, established way of talking and acting. It took me a while to realize that my unique perspective was exactly why I was in the room in the first place. Don’t sand down your edges. 7. You can be "Mom-in-Chief." Before she passed, my dear friend Susan Wojcicki taught me that it’s possible to be both a good parent and a good leader, and that your kids will be proud of you for working on something that gives you purpose. 8. Always stay curious, learning keeps you young! To my team and all the amazing folks I work with every day, thank you for making the last 23 years the privilege of a lifetime. The 2003 version of me couldn't possibly imagine what we'd build together, and the 2026 version of me is incredibly excited for what's next.
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