WPP chief Sir Martin Sorrell has reiterated his belief that the advertising upturn will not take place until next year and it could be 2008 before the real boom arrives.
The respected protagonist told delegates at the World Association of Newspapers in Dublin that the media and advertising sector would finally rebound in 2004. This is a line he has maintained despite the general uncertainty of the past few months (see Sorrell Sticks To 2004 Ad Recovery Forecast).
Next year’s revival will be sparked by the US presidential elections, the Athens Olympics and the European Football Championships in Portugal. However, Sorrell warned the advertising industry not to expect a major upsurge until later this decade.
“If you are waiting for a boom year, stand by for 2008,” he said in anticipation of another US election and the Beijing Olympics.
Revenues at WPP, one of the world’s largest advertising firms, fell by 3.9% in the first quarter of 2003 (see WPP Sees Weak UK Revenues, But Improving Outlook) but Sorrell claims that the war in Iraq has had little impact on trading with advertising remaining “remarkably constant”.
Nonetheless, he claimed that the company was looking to focus more on areas beyond Europe and the US, conceding that it had been a mistake to withdraw from growth areas such as Russia and Argentina.
Elsewhere, WPP has been linked with a bid for the troubled advertising group Cordiant and buyout negotiations are thought to be in the offing (see Cordiant Offloads Scholz As WPP Moves In).
