Publicis, one of the world’s largest advertising and media services organizations, reported relatively strong third-quarter results: a 3.9% growth in quarterly organic revenues and a 4.9% year-to-date gain. While the company signaled concern over the weakening global economy, Publicis chairman and chief executive officer Maurice Levy said he saw digital media as more stable than other advertising and marketing vehicles.
“Our digital businesses and our investments in high-growth economies are continuing to sustain our growth in an economic environment that has become harsher as the worsening financial crisis impacts the real economy,” said Levy in a quarterly statement. “In this context, where growth will essentially come from digital and emerging markets, Publicis Groupe should improve its position against its main competitors.”
Though Levy did not elaborate in the same statement, an interview released by Publicis expands on his view that digital media would likely prove the most resilient form of marketing expenditures, should the economic environment remain erratic or worsen. “Digital is a new world, and we should not compare digital [now] to what digital was in 2000,” he said. “In 2000, digital was mainly Web sites and some funny things and obviously, when the market collapsed, everything collapsed. Today, … communication [with end users] is highly measured—we know if it is working or not; we know the return on investment immediately; we know what works and what doesn’t work. So I don’t see digital collapsing; I don’t see digital going down; I see digital still growing in 2009 and the years to come.”
The fact that not all forecasts are dark is also evidenced by two other advertising and media giants, Aegis and Interpublic, which also reported growth. Interpublic’s third-quarter revenues rose 11.5%; year-to-date revenues increased 10.7%. Aegis Group’s third-quarter growth of 7.3% was driven by an 8.8% gain in Aegis Media, which unites digital and traditional agencies.