WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell sounded an uncharacteristically optimistic note on the prospect of a global advertising recovery when he unveiled the company’s annual report yesterday.
Sorrell is usually reluctant to be overly upbeat when predicting the industry’s fortunes and has so far refused to call an end to the worst advertising downturn in living memory. However, he now believes the outlook for advertisers is ‘good’ and ‘getting even better’.
The advertising chief told shareholders that WPP, which owns J Walter Thompson, Ogilvy & Mather and Young & Rubicam, would strengthen its business this year and show signs of further improvement next year.
According to a report in today’s Times, Sorrell emphasised that the long-term prospects would get even better for global marketing services because of the combination of a number of major international trends.
He said: “Advancing Americanisation and the growth of Asia Pacific, over-capacity and the shortage of human capital, the web, the demand for internal communications, and retail concentration should together underline and assure the importance of our industry and its constituent parts, advertising and marketing services.”
The US economy grew strongly in the second half of last year. Sorrell expects the Olympics, this summer’s European 2004 football championships and the forthcoming American presidential elections to further boost spending.
A recent report from ZenithOtimedia also suggests that the long-awaited global advertising recovery is now finally underway. The media buying agency predicts the market is set to rise by 3.2% to $244,535 million during 2004.
Looking further ahead, Maurice Levy, chairman of Paris-based advertising network Publicis, recently said that he expects the global advertising market to grow by over 3% in 2005.
Related Links
