Coen Predicts +6% Growth In Ad Spending In 2005.

In 2005, the extra stimulus from the election and the Summer Olympics will not be present and the pace of the economic recovery should moderate. However, we do expect the U.S. economy to grow at a reasonable pace, and we expect continued improvement in the advertising trends which historically tend to lag behind the economic trends. We expect advertising to again grow faster than nominal gross domestic product.

A gain of 6.4% in U.S. advertising to $280.6 billion is now forecast for 2005.

The 2005 outlook for the economies in most key overseas nations is relatively good although moderately lower than in 2004 and slightly better ad growth is now expected for 2005. The overseas total, assuming no change in exchange rates, is
now projected to reach $272.8 billion for a gain of 5.8%. In 2005 total worldwide advertising expenditures are now expected to increase 6.1% to $553.4 billion.

Robert J. Coen, Senior Vice President of Forecasting at Universal McCann, made these predictions at the December 6, 2004 UBS Media Outlook Research Conference in New York City. This issue of the Universal McCann Insider’s Report reviews the highlights of Bob’s latest forecast.

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http://www.universalmccann.com/Insiders1204.pdf