Sorrell: Media Owners need To Keep Pace With Change

Sir Martin Sorrell, head of WPP, has said that those in charge of running media companies should make sure that they keep up with the shift in power taking place in the media industry.

Sorrell, speaking yesterday at a Chrysalis event, said that media owners need to get their heads around the fact that profitability will be less in the future.

He added that he believed that people running media companies are not moving fast enough to adapt to the changing landscape.

The changes he mentioned include the further onset of digital media and new avenues of communication, such as user generated advertisements.

Sorrell added that to ensure the staff at MindShare are as good in new media as they are in old, he had to make sure that he pushed them hard and had to attempt to get all 97,000 staff to push in the right direction.

If he were to start the business again, said Sorrell, he would approach it from a digital perspective first in order to avoid the restrictions which are present in established media.

WPP: 020 7408 2204 www.wpp.com