WPP has launched Open Pro, a self-serve spin-off of its existing AI-driven marketing platform, designed to help marketers at smaller brands or in secondary markets build and launch campaigns without going through an agency. The idea isn’t to cut agencies out of the loop but to give clients more tactical tools for lower-touch projects. Access comes with a fee, and the system operates on a pay-per-use basis. WPP says it’s not cannibalizing its agency work, just capturing the DIY budget its clients were going to spend anyway—likely on third-party tools.
Built with tech from OpenAI and Google—who clocked a $400M partnership with WPP earlier this month—Open Pro lets users tap into WPP’s data to plan campaigns, generate creatives, and even deploy ads to platforms like Meta and Google directly. WPP clients using Open Media Studio can integrate with the system for execution, while non-clients just post straight to digital. Think static and video content built with AI, but the platform stops short of complex media strategy—at least for now.
For WPP, Open Pro is less a Trojan horse and more a pressure-release valve. Leadership is upfront that AI won’t replace the agency brain trust—yet. Instead, it’s pitched as “good value” and faster on ramp-up, pushing smaller jobs out of the agency workflow so teams can focus on bigger strategic lifts. And while nobody’s producing a Super Bowl spot with this thing just yet, WPP’s not ruling it out. After all, Christmas TV campaigns are apparently already getting the AI treatment.
Read more at Campaign.