Can WPP and client Jaguar Land Rover shrink their way back to greatness?

Chris Hunton argues WPP and its client Jaguar Land Rover share the same problem: both have lost some of the distinctiveness that once made them formidable. The irony will not be lost on WPP that its new 'turnaround to Elevate28' client announcement from earlier this year, saying it had once again won the entire JLR business, loses some of its luster as JLR signals thousands of job cuts. The parallels do not end there. These two great British icons of their sectors are shrinking their workforces as they battle intense competition and other market pressures. Those with patriotic leanings will be wishing both a return to rude health, but the path ahead looks treacherous. WPP's difficulties have been much covered in The Drum. Whether it can evolve from its legacy holding company structure into the 'single operating company' desired by CEO Cindy Rose remains to be seen. Despite all the structural machinations, investment in AI and consolidation of resources into WPP Creative, the reality is that WPP still needs a clear creative value proposition that differentiates it from Publicis, Omnicom and more fleet-footed alternatives, including Stagwell and The Brandtech Group. As Mark Ritson has argued, WPP also faces a fundamental question over whether it can operate coherently as both a branded house and a house of brands. Advertisement That will not be easy while the redundancy axe is still swinging in an attempt to cut costs and appease analysts. Indeed, relief around WPP's recent Q2 results appeared to stem largely from cost savings driven by its huge headcount reduction. WPP still expects a 'mid to low single-digit decline in revenue' this year. Like JLR, WPP might look back 25 years to a time when it offered clients something truly distinctive. Although much copied since, WPP's single team across multiple channels, headed by one global client leader, was genuinely differentiated at the time. Giving clients a unified team and single cost point across many of their major investment channels proved attractive to companies such as HSBC, BP and Ford. Want to go deeper? Ask The Drum The 'horizontality' model of bespoke client teams gave WPP a unique edge in pitches, even if multiple operating companies' P&Ls meant the reality was never quite as smooth. Add the boundless energy of Sir Martin Sorrell as salesman and client whisperer, and WPP became an almost unstoppable force. JLR will no doubt pin its own woes on an ugly combination of the shift to electric vehicles, a cyberattack, tariffs and the influx of Asian brands such as Jaecoo offering similar products at significantly lower prices. But look back 25 years and, if we ignore the perennial financial basket case that was Jaguar, its brand model was straightforward, powerful and compelling. Land Rover, with its capability, practicality and, let's not forget, brilliant advertising, constantly fed equity into Range Rover. That allowed Range Rover to command a significant premium as a luxury 4x4 while retaining the grit and limitless capability that helped it withstand barbs such as 'Chelsea tractor.' Advertisement But with the 'farmer's friend,' the basic Land Rover Defender, confined to production history, and the Land Rover Discovery becoming another good-looking, curvy vehicle rather than the big, boxy exemplar of form following function, much of that capability equity has evaporated. JLR will point to record profits for the year ending March 2025, but I would argue that it was still trading on the brand's historical legacy. As an increasingly younger audience grows up knowing little of the mythology of Land Rover, first conceived with a drawing in the sand on a North Wales beach, JLR will find it harder to justify its premium amid a sea of similar-looking luxury SUVs. There is another painful parallel between WPP and JLR. Both have experienced PR disasters that changed how people saw the company. Advertisement The departure of Sir Martin Sorrell and the subsequent months of wrangling greatly dented WPP's seeming impregnability. Meanwhile, Jaguar's 'Copy Nothing' rebrand was so badly misjudged that it called the credibility of the wider JLR into question. Sometimes something toe-curlingly awful can still have a positive impact, but sadly not in this case. Jaguar subsequently doubled down on the strategy at its Miami launch, despite the scale of the backlash. The episode came close to disproving the old idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity, with the campaign approaching brand-killing territory for Jaguar. And that leaves both businesses facing much the same problem. Cost cuts, restructures and reinvention may buy time, but neither WPP nor JLR can shrink its way back to greatness. Both once had a proposition that was instantly understood and difficult to copy. Both now need to rediscover one. Having played a very minor part in the history of each, I can't help but wish them well. But sentiment will only carry them so far. The real test is whether either can once again give customers a compelling reason to choose them. Read more opinion on The Drum.