Blending creative and tech at scale, with VML's Jon Cook
Plus, our weekly news discussion: Havas earnings, Stagwell's Sport Beach brand strategy, and BarkleyOKRP’s latest acquisition
Agency Business is brought to you by Brian Wieser’s Madison and Wall, in collaboration with Olivia Morley's FusionFront Media. We publish new podcast episodes every Monday at 6 a.m. Eastern.
Hello and welcome to Agency Business for the week of April 14, 2025. Episode 17 is available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
Jon Cook, Global CEO of VML, joins us to talk about the agency’s evolution and how it’s navigating both creative leadership and enterprise-scale transformation.
VML now integrates creative, commerce, customer experience and technology under one roof — and Jon explains how that structure came together through a series of mergers and strategic bets. We discuss the agency’s Enterprise Solutions group, which accounts for 40% of the business, and how those capabilities play out in both new business and client growth.
We also talk about how VML — and WPP more broadly — is investing in AI through shared infrastructure like WPP Open, how the agency maintains values consistency across global markets, and what it means to lead in a time of cultural and geopolitical tension.
In our news chat this week, we cover Havas’ Q1 earnings, Stagwell’s brand strategy at Sport Beach, and BarkleyOKRP’s latest acquisition as the agency continues to build out its media capabilities.
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News of the week: Discussed in Episode 17
Havas reports 1Q25 results, maintains guidance for 2025
MW: Given the chaos in the economy, it was notable that the company isn’t changing its guidance for the year, which essentially calls for 2% organic growth — probably in line with where all agency groups wind up in 2025. Of course, they could be expecting a lot of inflation and still get to 2%. At least the results indicated that the first quarter didn’t see much impact from a softening economy — not yet, anyway.
FFM: Some regional oscillations caught my eye. Havas was down 4 percent in North America in Q1 2024, and has made up a good amount of that, now up 3.2 percent in the North American market. We see some wins in France, attributed to the Havas Media Network, which, unsurprisingly, seems to be driving a good amount of business. And there’s continued strong growth in Latin America, up a few percentage points from last year. But basically, results were normal — which, in the context of the current business environment, is a positive.
BarkleyOKRP’s MissionOne Media acquires GrowthSkills
MW: BarkleyOKRP looks like it’s trying to build itself up in a major way. First merging with OKRP, then buying a media agency, Adlucent, hiring Sean Corcoran (who previously ran Mullen’s Mediahub), and then establishing MissionOne as a media agency, which itself is now making an acquisition. It’s small in a global sense, but interesting in that they are trying to establish themselves in the mid-market in the United States.
FFM: The new acquisition is the AI, performance and SEO-focused company Growth Skills. Ostensibly, it will strengthen MissionOne’s full-funnel capabilities. The media practice already has a billion dollars in billings, and this feels like a really good up-and-coming shop — something to keep an eye on. When I reported on BarkleyOKRP’s private equity backing last year, it was described to me as a platform company, designed to build scale through targeted acquisitions. This latest move fits that playbook, layering in specialized capabilities to serve mid-market clients while continuing to expand the agency’s footprint.
Stagwell announces new Sport Beach line-up for Cannes
MW: I can’t think of a more impactful marketing initiative from an agency group in recent years than Stagwell’s Sport Beach. At the same time, it feels really disconnected from the actual business results for the company, at least from the outside. I can’t help but wonder if the initiative doesn’t help the broader space of sports marketing and sports-influencer marketing for all holding companies rather than helping Stagwell more specifically.
FFM: I’ve never been to Sport Beach, but I’m fascinated by the way Stagwell is using specialization to build its brand. In January it acquired sports-focused shop Gold Rabbit Sports and is going all in on Sport Beach again this year at Cannes. At the same time, sports are pulling in broader audiences, with stars like Travis and Jason Kelce crossing over into media and entertainment. It’s not just about sponsorships anymore. Sports-driven content ecosystems are creating new ways to attract ad dollars and I think Stagwell is right to capitalize on it.
Up next on Agency Business:
Next week’s guest is Nicole Estebanell, U.S. CEO of Mediahub. Nicole took on the role last fall to lead the agency’s U.S. growth and oversee its client portfolio, including brands like Chipotle, Netflix, the NBA and Ulta Beauty. Watch for the episode next Monday at 6 a.m. Eastern.
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