Inside WPP Media’s new playbook: Shekhar Banerjee on data, AI and ‘Content to Commerce’

In early 2026, WPP Media underwent a leadership transition. Ajay Gupte stepped down as president – client solutions, with Shekhar Banerjee stepping into the role. Having been with Wavemaker since what he calls “Day zero”, Banerjee is not new to the system he now oversees.That familiarity, however, comes at a moment when the system itself is shifting.For decades, media planning operated on a relatively stable premise: maximise reach at the lowest possible cost. That logic is now under strain—not abruptly, but steadily, as consumer behaviour, media channels, and measurement frameworks fragment.“The way we engage with clients, the way we think about go-to-market strategies, and even the way consumers move across touchpoints—everything has changed,” Banerjee says.What he describes isn’t a single disruption but a cluster of them. Audience groups have splintered into smaller, less predictable cohorts. Content has moved from episodic campaigns to continuous output. Data flows have multiplied, but not necessarily aligned. And planning cycles—once quarterly or monthly—have become iterative, often in real time.AI sits underneath much of this shift. But rather than positioning it as a catch-all solution, Banerjee frames it more narrowly—as infrastructure. Systems like WPP Open, he argues, are less about automation in isolation and more about stitching together fragmented workflows.The ambition is straightforward, even if execution isn’t: move planners away from manual processes and closer to decision-making. Whether that transition is as seamless in practice as it appears in theory remains an open question across the industry, not just within WPP.From scale to something more usefulWPP Media’s scale has long been its defining advantage. But scale, in itself, is no longer a sufficient differentiator—particularly when clients expect not just efficiency, but direction.That expectation has quietly expanded the agency’s role. Long-term relationships now often involve advising on structural shifts, not just media deployment.During the COVID-19 period, for instance, WPP Media leaned into e-commerce as a priority area—helping clients reassess capabilities, reorganise teams, and rethink distribution strategies.Read More: WPP Media’s Ajay Gupte exits after long leadership stint; Shekhar Banerjee elevated “That was a big bet for us,” Banerjee says. “Today, it has paid off.”The claim—that the network is now among the largest e-commerce agencies in the country—speaks as much to market movement as it does to agency strategy. As consumer behaviour shifted online, agencies that adapted early gained an advantage. The more relevant question now is whether that edge can be sustained as e-commerce becomes baseline rather than differentiator.The next focus area appears to be data ownership. As platform-led data becomes more restricted and retail media grows, agencies are increasingly pushing clients toward first-party data strategies—often involving investments in infrastructure like customer data platforms (CDPs).Here again, the role of the agency stretches beyond media into consulting territory. Whether clients fully cede that strategic ground—or build it in-house—remains to be seen.Inside the pitch roomIf scale gets WPP Media a seat at the table, technology is increasingly shaping how conversations unfold once it’s there.Clients often enter pitch discussions expecting efficiency gains. What they are now being shown instead is a different operating model—one that leans heavily on integrated systems like WPP Open.The proposition is that planning—from audience identification to media allocation—can be orchestrated through interconnected tools, rather than siloed processes or individual expertise.“Our teams are spending far more time thinking about the client’s business rather than executing tasks,” Banerjee says.That shift, if fully realised, would redefine the planner’s role. But it also raises a practical question: how much of this transformation is embedded into day-to-day operations, and how much remains concentrated in pitch narratives? Across the industry, that gap between promise and practice is still being worked through.IPL, still underused?Few properties in India carry the weight of the IPL. For advertisers, it remains a high-cost, high-visibility bet.Banerjee’s argument is not that brands are over-investing—but that they are under-utilising what they buy.“The expectation from IPL hasn’t changed—it’s still about scale and impact,” he says. “What needs to change is how brands use it.”The push from WPP Media is to treat IPL less as inventory and more as a campaign window—stretching across the tournament with aligned creative, media, and supporting channels.It’s a familiar argument in theory. In practice, however, many brands still default to spot buying, largely because integrated execution requires alignment across teams, timelines, and budgets—something that isn’t always feasible.Banerjee points to examples such as Mondelēz, Vodafone Idea (in earlier years), and Google as cases where integrated approaches have delivered stronger returns—up to 2x ROI, by his estimate. As with most ROI claims, the specifics matter, and they are rarely uniform across categories.A more consistent takeaway is structural: large tentpole properties work best when supported, not isolated. Surround strategies—across programmatic, outdoor, and other media—often determine whether the investment scales or plateaus.Sharper tools, messier realityIf older media planning relied on broad-reach channels, today’s ecosystem offers far more precision—CTV, programmatic, hyperlocal targeting, retail media, and more.In theory, this allows for tighter alignment between audience and message. In practice, it also introduces complexity.To manage this, WPP Media has built data-led planning systems, including its 85,000-strong consumer panel, Audience Origin. The idea is to move from probabilistic decision-making toward model-driven optimization.That shift reflects a broader industry trend. But it also depends on data quality, integration, and interpretation—areas where even large networks continue to face challenges.Read More: Red Bull India retains integrated media mandate with WavemakerIn a market like India, where consumption patterns are uneven and evolving, precision can be both an advantage and a constraint. The more targeted the approach, the greater the reliance on accurate, updated data.Influencer marketing: useful, but not foundationalAs influencer marketing grows, so does the tendency to position it as a primary driver of brand building.Banerjee takes a more tempered view.In his assessment, influencer marketing is most effective in the mid-funnel—where consumers are aware but not yet convinced. It can shape consideration and preference, but its ability to build large-scale awareness or long-term brand equity remains limited.“It’s not a replacement—it’s part of the mix,” he says.That framing aligns with how many large advertisers currently deploy influencers—alongside, rather than instead of, traditional media.At the same time, the ecosystem itself remains fragmented. WPP Media’s response has been to introduce more structure—through tools like Brand.ai and workflow systems that standardise execution.Whether this “systematisation” can keep pace with the inherently fluid nature of creator ecosystems is another question. Influencer marketing, by design, resists rigid frameworks—even as agencies attempt to impose them.An industry still in transitionIf there is one consistent thread in Banerjee’s view, it is that the industry is far from settled.Emerging shifts—such as the expansion of quick commerce—could redirect budgets toward retail media, where the link between spend and transaction is more immediate. At the same time, traditional channels continue to hold ground in areas like awareness and scale.“There’s no single model that will dominate,” he says. “It will always come down to the right mix.”That mix, however, is not static. It varies by category, by brand maturity, and increasingly, by distribution strategy.He says, “What works for a market leader may not translate for a challenger. What delivers for a brand like Red Bull may not apply to smaller players trying to build share.”In that sense, the shift underway is less about replacing one model with another, and more about managing constant recalibration.