Regarding the evolution of the media market, Dumitrescu said that in January 2009, most clients announced budgets for 2009 equal to those of 2008. “So, we can expect an advertising market in 2009 in line with 2008, maybe even a slight increase of up to five percent,” he explained. Things are expected to become clearer at the beginning of March, when media negotiations for 2009 are finalized and all budgets confirmed.
However, the company official said that most clients also have a “crisis scenario,” based on lower advertising budgets, and, depending on the evolution of the economic situation in the coming few moths, we may witness a significant correction of already announced budgets at the end of April. “This correction could mean an annual drop in the market in 2009 of up to 20 percent,” Dumitrescu said.
Publicis is the world’s fourth-largest communication service group, and its main competitors on the local market include McCann Erikson, Grey Bucharest, and Graffiti BBDO.
