WPP founder Martin Sorrell has spoken candidly about his life after leaving the ad agency in an interview with Business Insider.
The interview comes ahead of the adman’s appearance at IGNITION Conference next month.
Chatting with Business Insider editor-in-chief Jim Edwards, Sorrell spoke about how his life has changed since stepping away from the ad giant, issues in the industry and shared an update on his latest venture, programmatic buying company S4 Capital.
Speaking specifically on creatives, Sorrell said adland defines creative “too narrowly”.
“Big ideas are still pivotal, but people in our industry continue to define “creative” very narrowly. They’re wearing rose-coloured glasses.
“It’s not just about Don Draper’s Mad Men anymore. You can, believe it or not, have a creative data scientist or media planner.
He added: “They’re not taking note of the fundamental changes – not just technological, geographic as well. The new model has to develop. It has to be faster, it has to be better, it has to be more efficient.”
Sorrell then shared his thoughts on in-house models, and their future.
“Clients are looking for co-located resources. They’re looking for in-house models. I don’t think in-house models work, but we’re willing to work with clients to develop them.”
Discussing his departure from WPP, Sorrell said he was happy to no longer be bound to “history”.
Asking what he missed about running the agency, Sorrell said: “It’s great having a clean sheet of paper.
“I’m not a prisoner of history, even though it was history I was responsible for creating.
“What I miss is the scale, but maybe we can do something about that quite quickly.”
Sorrell left WPP in April, a move that has been shrouded in mystery ever since it was announced.
Following his exit, a series of rumours began circulating on the catalyst of his move, with some speculating he had been bullying staff and using company funds to pay for sex workers.
Read the full interview on Business Insider here.
