Business: WPP Eyeing Consolidation

WPP's new Chief Executive Mark Read is preparing to consolidate some of the advertising giant’s major properties, as traditional agencies struggle to keep pace with the industry’s digital shift.

Marquee ad agencies that buoyed WPP in earlier decades—including Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy, J. Walter Thompson and Grey—are generally growing more slowly than WPP’s digital and media buying operations, according to the company.

One idea under consideration is a merger between Young & Rubicam and WPP’s digital-ad firm VML, with VML CEO Jon Cook leading the combined business, according to people familiar with the matter.