Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of the advertising group WPP, predicts a slow growth in the upcoming year for the advertising industry, but sees great potential in mobile advertising and marketing in the coming years, most notably in countries like China and India where mobile usage is exploding.
A recent study from Magna, part of Interpublic Group, predicted “mobile marketing, well beyond advertising, will likely hold the most promise for… commercial activation going forward.”
In response to this, chief executive of WPP Group, Sir Martin Sorrell, told the Media Group that mobile advertising and marketing has a “lot of potential and power,” especially in countries like India and China. The fact that Google is chasing after this market, with its recent purchase of AdMob and other plays in space, prove that the reports are on to something. Google’s moves fuel Sorrell’s belief that the mobile advertising and marketing industries are in infancy now, and bound to take off.
“When you have 700 million people in China on mobile, growing at eight million a month, India growing at 12 million a month, these are markets where mobile will leapfrog PCs, unlike what we’ve seen in the west,” Sorrell said.
Sorrell is a strong advocate for digital advertising both online and via mobile. In November, he announced that New Media is 25% of the advertising business already, though WPP’s clients only spend 12 to 13% of their budgets online.
