Madison Avenue sees hard slog, but respectable growth

New York

AN OLD Viennese saying to the effect that "the situation is hopeless, but not serious" seems to sum up what several Madison Avenue thought leaders believe lies in store for the industry next year.

The senior executives, in presentations on Monday at an annual media conference, predicted that the rough times the advertising business has endured for the last several years would continue into 2015. Still, there will be steady growth in worldwide advertising spending of 4.8 to 5 per cent compared with this year, according to their forecasts, as a result of factors that include gains in digital ad sales and improving economic conditions in markets such as India and the United States.

The better outcome the executives anticipate for 2015 compared with 2014 may not warrant dancing a Viennese waltz, but would be respectable, they suggested, in light of the many issues that worry them and marketer cl…