Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of WPP, has reproached his fellow advertising bosses for whingeing about the state of the market, arguing that recessions are part and parcel of managing a business.
According to a Daily Telegraph report from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Sorrell said that chief executives should ‘stop moaning’ and concentrate on making the most of the current situation.
“We got used to the bull market of the 1990s,” he pronounced. “We’re paid very well to manage our companies. We had nine good years when you could do anything without being Einstein. This was followed by the South Sea Bubble or Tulipmania stage when the bubble burst and now we are having three years when things are tough. So what?”
Last week, Sorrell reiterated his stance that there would be no advertising recovery until 2004 when there is a presidential election, football’s European Championship and the Olympic Games.
In his latest discourse, Sorrell emphasised that current market conditions present an opportunity for companies to adjust their strategy and drew attention to the fact that WPP is moving away from traditional forms of advertising to embrace research and direct mail.
“There is greater demand for measurement of the quantitive effectiveness of campaigns,” he said. “Direct marketing and the internet are much more measurable.”
Hello. We have downloaded cookies on your device. Some of these cookies are essential for the website to function. Others are non-essential and are used for analytics and advertising.
We need your consent for these types of cookies.
To withdraw your consent or change your cookie choices, please do this through your browser settings.
Otherwise, click OK to accept and continue.AcceptPrivacy policy
