Sir Martin
Sorrell

We live in a world increasingly conditioned by numbers – and for most of the time, sensibly so. Investment decisions can’t be made solely on the basis of whim. Only numbers can provide the common currency that allow proposals to be discussed, evaluated against alternatives, and held to account against agreed, quantified objectives.  Numbers provide the reassuring structure around which we hope to build a successful business.

But our appreciation of numbers must never lead us to believe that only that which can be measured matters. If I was ever likely to forget this often-inconvenient truth, our annual WPPED Cream awards would swiftly correct me.

Every elegant exhibit on this website has proved itself to be a practical solution to a business problem. And I suspect that not a single one of them came about solely through the application of numbers.  

People have recently been asking: what is it that WPP companies can do that the consultancies cannot? If you’re asked the same question, I suggest you simply give a knowing smile – and suggest they visit this mind-enlarging website.

My thanks - and my admiration - go to those many thousands of talented people in WPP companies who continue to apply intuition and imagination to their clients’ briefs. And yes: with wonderfully quantifiable results.