VML
WPP-owned enterprise marketing, media and transformation consultancy.
Available information varies by company and source.
Profile record updated:
Company facts
- Official name
- VML(UK) Limited
- Entity type
- COMPANY
- Founded
- 2018
- Headquarters
- Sea Containers House, 18 Upper Ground, London, SE1 (address per corporate filings)
- Company size
- >5,000
- Market role
- Agency & Consultancy
- Official website
- vml.com
What VML does
VML operates a services-led model built around selling advisory, delivery and managed execution to enterprise clients. It creates value by combining consulting, customer experience design, commerce implementation, media planning and optimisation, and technology transformation into integrated programmes that address both brand growth and operational change. Its WPP ownership extends distribution, credibility and access to large multinational accounts, while platform partnerships support implementation and delivery work.
Category differentiation
This is the WPP-owned agency and consultancy brand, not a standalone software vendor or a single adtech platform. It competes more with large agency groups and digital consultancies than with pure-play SaaS providers.
Strategic context
AI-supported assessment from the existing company research; distinguish interpretation from sourced facts.
VML is a WPP-owned agency and consultancy group serving large enterprises with integrated services across consulting, customer experience, commerce, media, engineering and technology transformation. Its core business is not packaged SaaS but managed services and transformation delivery, combining strategy, implementation, analytics and media activation for complex organisations. The company makes money primarily through professional services engagements, including project work, retained advisory relationships and multi-year transformation programmes. Its customers are enterprise marketing, digital, commerce, customer experience and IT leaders that need a single partner to plan campaigns, implement platforms, modernise systems and connect media, data and customer journeys.
Company news briefing
Briefing updated:
VML has undergone a major leadership transition as founding global CEO Jon Cook stepped down, with Eric Campbell appointed as his successor amid broader holding-company restructuring under WPP CEO Cindy Rose. Concurrently, the agency continues to reinforce its creative leadership, having secured a Titanium Lion for OREO Cows and being named Network of the Year at the 2026 Gerety Awards, alongside VML UK claiming Agency of the Year and a shortlist appearance for the 2026 ADWEEK Team Visionary Awards.
Business model & monetisation
VML primarily monetises through professional services fees rather than software subscriptions. Revenue is generated from project-based consulting, implementation and engineering work, long-term retainers, large transformation programmes, and managed media and optimisation services. Commercial models are typically scoped by staffing, capability mix, duration and programme complexity, with some media and performance work likely incorporating service fees and outcome-linked compensation.
- Consulting and strategy engagements
- Service fee, project and retainer
- Technology implementation and enterprise transformation delivery
- Service fee, programme-based staffing and scope billing
- Media planning and performance services
- Managed service fees and campaign-linked compensation
- CX, CRM and loyalty delivery
- Project fees and ongoing managed services
- Commerce and retail media activation
- Implementation fees and managed service revenue
Products & capabilities
No products with linked sources are available in this view.
Products & market categories
Technology
- Retail Media Technology
- Demand-Side Platform (DSP)
- Marketing Automation Platform
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Cloud Data Warehouse / Data Lake
- Customer Data & Clean Room Platform (CDP/DCR)
- Large Language Models (LLM) & AI
- Measurement & Analytics Platform
- Loyalty Management Platform
- E-Commerce Platform
Service
Recent recorded signals
Dates refer to the source publication. Older entries are historical context, not evidence of a new event.
Jon Cook Steps Down as CEO of WPP Creative and VML
Leadership · Recorded impact score: 3/5
Jon Cook, global CEO of VML and WPP Creative, will step down after more than 30 years with WPP, effective March 2027. Eric Campbell, currently CEO of VML and WPP Creative in North America, will succeed Cook as global CEO of VML, while retaining his North American role at WPP Creative. Cook will remain in his positions until the transition to ensure a seamless handover. The announcement, made on October 2, 2026, follows the recent exit of Troy Ruhanen from Omnicom Advertising, marking significant leadership changes in major holding companies. WPP has not yet named a successor for Cook's role as CEO of WPP Creative, which he has led since its launch in February 2026. Cook also led the creation of VML in 2024 through the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson. These changes come amid broader restructuring at WPP, with the industry closely watching the impact on creative landscape and client relationships.
- Jon Cook will step down as global CEO of VML and WPP Creative, effective March 2027.
- Eric Campbell will succeed Cook as global CEO of VML, retaining his North American role at WPP Creative.
Cakes Body Launches In-House Media Studio Cakes Media
Brand Entertainment · Recorded impact score: 2/5
Beauty brand Cakes Body, known for its founder-led TikTok virality, has launched its own entertainment company, Cakes Media, to bring brand marketing in-house and operationalize virality. The company grossed $100 million in sales since launching in 2022. Cakes Media aims to create social-first content and owned media for digital and streaming platforms, with a focus on long-form documentary-style episodes repurposed for short-form content. The studio is funded from the brand's top-of-funnel marketing budget. The move reflects a broader trend of brands building in-house studios to earn attention through entertainment rather than traditional advertising.
- Cakes Body launched Cakes Media, an in-house entertainment company, in September 2026.
- The company grossed $100 million in sales in three years since its 2022 launch.
VML Named Network of the Year and VML UK Crowned Agency of the Year at 2026 Gerety Awards
Recorded impact score: 2/5
VML has been named Network of the Year and VML UK has been crowned Agency of the Year at the 2026 Gerety Awards, as highlighted in the latest news roundup.
AI Reshapes Agency Economics, Contracts Scramble to Catch Up
Agency Operations · Recorded impact score: 2/5
As generative and agentic AI tools become integral to agency workflows, agencies are shifting toward software-as-a-service (SaaS) business models, but their Master Service Agreements (MSAs) are not keeping pace. Agency executives report revising contracts through piecemeal addendums and clauses rather than overhauls, addressing issues like IP ownership of AI-generated content, data protection, brand safety, and transparency around AI tool usage. Clients are demanding disclosure of AI tools, human oversight, and data handling practices. The industry is grappling with evolving payment structures as AI reduces billable hours, with agencies exploring proprietary AI tools and new pricing models. Legal experts advise building flexibility into contracts to accommodate the rapidly changing AI landscape.
- Agencies are using AI tools to automate marketing workflows and developing proprietary generative AI tools.
- Agencies are updating MSAs through addendums and clauses rather than full overhauls.
Can AI Pass Advertising’s Cannes Lions Turing Test?
Creative AI in Advertising · Recorded impact score: 2/5
Richard Stoney argues that the ad industry should test AI creatively by challenging leading models to write a single 90-second TV script capable of winning a Cannes Lions award. He frames this as an "advertising Turing test" that would prove whether AI can match human creativity in its most human category. Stoney cites the long history of the Turing test and early claims of machine 'success', and questions whether current AI hype reflects real creative capability. He also criticises Meta/Facebook’s automated ad-creation and media-buying tools for producing poor or nonsensical creative and for opaque campaign control. The piece concludes that if AI could reliably produce award-winning ads, it would fundamentally disrupt creative recognition and institutions like Cannes Lions.
- Richard Stoney proposes a challenge: ask AI to write a 90-second TV commercial script that could win a Cannes Lions award.
- Cannes Lions awarded around 1,500 Lions this year and has been awarding them for 72 years.
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Questions about VML
What is VML?
VML is a WPP-owned agency and consultancy that provides enterprise services across consulting, media, customer experience, commerce, engineering and technology transformation.
Who uses VML?
Its buyers are mainly large enterprises, multinational brands, retailers, marketing leaders, customer experience teams and IT or digital transformation leaders.
How does VML make money?
VML makes money through professional services fees, including consulting projects, retainers, implementation work, transformation programmes and managed media services.
Sources & coverage
This profile uses public, official and technically observable information. Missing information does not prove that a product or relationship does not exist. The list below does not imply that every profile statement has been verified.
15 publicly documented primary sources and citations linked across the market graph.
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