GroupM may have a new name (hello, WPP Media), but it’s a familiar ambition: dominate digital media through smarter targeting. The holding company has rolled out Open Intelligence, a new AI-powered identity solution designed to create tailored predictive models using first-party data and sources like CTV and retail networks. Unlike consumer-facing LLMs scraping the web’s weirdest corners, this system pulls from structured media data and plans to build client-specific models to predict behavior—like a crystal ball, but with better math.
Built with help from WPP’s mighty AI investment ($403 million a year and counting), Open Intelligence is the result of a multi-agency cross-pollination that includes Choreograph, InfoSum (pre- and post-acquisition), and tech partners from TikTok to Microsoft’s Azure stack. The tool has already seen action from five clients in “scaled” campaigns, including one auto brand that slashed its cost per acquisition by 60%, and a telecom client boasting a 15% decrease. WPP is careful not to name names or drop hard revenue figures—but no numbers at all would’ve raised more eyebrows.
WPP’s latest AI offering is landing in a seriously crowded arena. But WPP believes its focus on privacy-resilient data and client-specific models positions it to lead in the post-cookie, post-identifier advertising landscape. As Evan Hanlon put it, they may not be the last to launch but hope they’ve gotten in early enough to set the pace.
Read more at Digiday.