Universal McCann's Coen Revises Forecast Slightly Downward

NEW YORK — While other ad spending forecasters have recently revised their earlier U.S. ad spending outlooks upward, Bob Coen, svp and director of forecasting for Universal McCann, is lowering his 2002 forecast to 2.1 percent growth from the +2.4 percent level he predicted in December.

Coen, who factors in a broader array of advertising categories than his rivals, such as yellow pages and direct advertising in addition to major media, is predicting total ad spending for 2002 to top out at $236 billion instead of $239 billion, as he believed last December.

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