WPP's profits down 47% and most of that came from non-traditional services
Was just reading a really interesting article in AdAge ( http://adage.com/article?article_id=138673 ), about WPP, the holding company for such advertising behemoths as JWT, Y&R and Ogilvy. It’s probably not a shock to anyone that their profits are down 47% in 2Q 2009, given the economy and marketers need to cut back ad spending (media, production, and creative costs).
What I found really interesting about the article is the shift in where they made their profits. The article states that “More than 61% of the holding company’s revenue came from nontraditional services such as direct, digital, PR and research.” Back when I was a worker bee at JWT, media (as in broadcast and print) was a huge profit center. Considering the huge cross-section of clients they represent, it’s an important shift.
