Sorry to return to my bugbear of last month, but will someone
please explain the continued use of phrases such as 'recession' and
'troubled ad market'?
Every media story that pops up on Reuters includes some reference to ad
market strife - even when the meat of the story contradicts the idea
that revenues are slipping.
Last week's first-quarter results from Omnicom were a classic case in
point. Profits were up 20 per cent to dollars 79.7m. Nevertheless, as is
the way of things at the moment, this was reported as a bucking of
trends due to new business wins, rather than a sign that, perhaps,
things were not all doom and gloom.
There were other encouraging reports last week. AC Nielsen revealed
German adspend for March was just 1 per cent behind spend in the
corresponding period last year, which was an all-time record month.
Better still, the IPA issued its respected Bellwether Report - based on
information from 300 UK marketing departments - revealing that 40 per
cent of all advertisers are increasing their ad budget compared with
just 20 per cent who were considering cuts.
And next month, the Business Information Forum, which has been
researching the health of the business magazine sector for some months,
will reveal that an pounds 11bn business is growing rapidly, and is set
to reach the pounds 13bn mark by the end of next year.
Can we please be clear about this? Anyone who made hay while the dotcom
sun shone is going to struggle to make their 2001 figures match last
year's figures. In addition, TV inflation last year - fuelled by
unprecedented demand - will make it tough for the TV sales houses to
match 2000 revenues. But these sectors aside, things really look pretty
healthy.
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