Martin Sorrell, CEO of the second largest media and marketing services group in the world, said financial results indicated that the advertising sector has emerged from its slump. WPP, which owned household names such as Young and Rubicom and J. Walter Thomson, posted a £473 million profit for the year. The most profitable market was yet again North America, with Asia and Latin America being the fastest growing markets. For the coming year, worldwide marketing and advertising was expected to show a 3-4% increase. The big worry though, is that a fiscal tightening in the US after November’s election will have adverse effects on business prospects. Other issues raised by Sorrell included the increased cost of network television advertising, declining and fragmented audiences, new technologies and a greater willingness amongst clients to experiment with new media and other non traditional alternatives.

Also confirmed on Friday, Feb. 27^th, was that WPP was looking to acquire a third media network to service global clients. Like the Mindshare and Mediaedge:cia networks, the third network will focus on planning media campaigns for clients and buying airtime or advertising space in publications. This is separate from the function of its advertising agencies, which supply the creative work for advertisers.