The warning came from Robert Coen, an advertising spend forecaster at Interpublic-owned agency Universal McCann. Coen cited the unexpectedly steep economic slowdown as the main reason why the market was so slow.
The tough market conditions had driven many companies to cut back on adspend, while spending by dotcoms had reduced substantially, partly because many of the big spenders had collapsed.
Just six months ago, in December, Coen estimated the industry would grow by 5.8%. The last time the market looked this bleak was in 1991 when advertising spend fell 1.2%, Coen said.