WPP used the opening day of Cannes Lions 2026 to formalise its stance on trust, with CEO Cindy Rose publishing a new set of “trust principles” that outline how the company intends to operate in an AI-led marketing environment. The framework builds on the Elevate28 strategy unveiled earlier this year, which positions WPP as a “trusted growth partner” to global brands, with trust and growth at the centre of its proposition.
In a blogpost, Rose said clients are increasingly looking to marketing partners to drive enterprise growth, not just deliver services, while also demanding clarity on how their data, brands and customer relationships are handled. She noted that the acceleration of AI has made trust “increasingly precious and in scarce supply,” prompting WPP to codify commitments that had previously remained implicit.
The five principles include a commitment that clients own and control their data and that it will not be used to benefit third parties, alongside an assurance that WPP Open—its agentic marketing platform—is “open by design” and not a closed ecosystem. The framework also emphasises understanding consumers as people rather than IDs, using AI to augment rather than replace human creativity, and taking accountability for driving measurable client growth, including a shift towards outcome-based remuneration models.
Rose linked the move to wider structural and technological changes underway at WPP, including investments in WPP Open, which uses live data signals to identify growth audiences and improve marketing performance. The principles are intended as public commitments to clients and partners, addressing concerns around data usage, AI governance and transparency in a rapidly evolving ecosystem.
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The announcement coincided with a strong showing for WPP agencies across Day One winners at Cannes Lions. Among the Gold Lion winners was Art’s Missing Period for Kotex by DAVID London and Ogilvy Singapore, which highlighted the absence of menstrual representation in art history and called out long-standing cultural censorship.
Ogilvy Shanghai’s Blue Brands, created for Viatris’ Viagra, picked up a Pharma Gold, demonstrating how creativity in regulated categories can balance cultural relevance with medical communication. Meanwhile, VML Thailand’s Soil Stay for Tra Mongkut Fertilizer won in Creative B2B, reflecting the growing emphasis on storytelling and real-world problem-solving in business-to-business marketing.
VML’s Beat Cancer Off for F**k Cancer also secured a Gold in Health & Wellness, standing out in a category that rewarded work addressing personal wellbeing and public health awareness through bold creative approaches.
In Outdoor, WPP Open X’s The Last Coke in the Desert for Coca-Cola was recognised for its cross-market execution. Developed by VML with support from Ogilvy and WPP Media, the campaign marked Coca-Cola’s 100-year presence in Mexico by spotlighting independent shopkeepers in remote desert regions, reframing a cultural expression into a platform that honoured the brand’s grassroots network.
The dual focus on codifying trust and delivering award-winning work formed the backdrop to WPP’s presence at Cannes Lions this year, as the company outlined how it plans to navigate the intersection of AI, data and creativity while continuing to drive client growth.
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