The Future of Advertising: The U.S., Europe Are Just Baggage in the World Economy
Everything you want to know about the future of advertising is neatly summed up in this chart from Havas (HAV), the French ad-agency holding company that owns Euro RSCG and services clients such as Heineken and Panasonic, among others. It shows that all the company's growth in Q1 2010 came from Asia and Latin America, with the U.S. and Europe still mired in recession:
The chart shows a little bit of organic growth in America, but the total amounts -- in euros -- are stagnating everywhere except the "rest of the world."
Of course, it's not news that the BRIC countries have experienced fast growth while the West has been dealing with its credit crunch/unemployment problem. And the West remains far the largest portion of Havas's business.
But the chart nonetheless offers an ego-deflating scenario for everyone in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and London who previously thought the advertising world revolved around them: As the economy pulls out of recession, it is Asia and Latin America doing the pulling. The West will be the baggage along for the ride.
Top executives will likely position this as being the exciting new future of globalization, but for Joe and Joanne Cubicle it heralds an era in which one's bosses issue orders from afar, in strange accents or foreign tongues. In the years to come, meaningful promotions may mean relocating to Sao Paulo or Mumbai.
Given current conditions in Detroit (video below), worse things could happen.
Related:
- Is the Recession Over? If Advertising Jobs Are Any Guide, the Answer's Yes
- At Ad Agency Havas -- Another Quarter, Another Cherry-Picked Poke at Rivals