LONDON: WPP Creative has appointed Ewen Sturgeon as EMEA chief executive as the advertising group sharpens its regional leadership structure following a broader company overhaul.
Sturgeon, who will continue as VML EMEA CEO, will now oversee WPP Creative’s EMEA operations across VML, Ogilvy, Burson, AKQA, Landor and Design Bridge & Partners.
He will report to Jon Cook, global CEO of WPP Creative and VML.
The move comes as WPP CEO Cindy Rose pushes ahead with plans to simplify the company’s structure and turn it from a sprawling holding group into an integrated organisation built around four divisions: WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions.
A WPP spokesperson said the new regional leadership team was designed to support the operating model by improving collaboration and making it easier for clients to access talent across the group’s agencies.
“As announced during our recent strategy update, WPP is creating a lean regional leadership team to develop the WPP Creative operating model,” a WPP spokesperson said.
The reshuffle follows the departure of Patou Nuytemans, who will step down as CEO of Ogilvy EMEA at the end of May and will not be replaced.
Sturgeon has held senior regional roles across WPP since 2019, including EMEA CEO of Wunderman Thompson and later VML EMEA CEO after the merger of Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R.
Before joining WPP’s network, he was chief operating officer at Publicis.Sapient International and previously held senior roles at Digitas and LBi.
WPP announced WPP Creative in February as part of its Elevate28 strategy, with Rose saying at the time that the group’s creative, design and PR agencies would continue to operate as separate brands but within a more unified system.
