Sir Martin Sorrell Says the Advertising Industry Is 'Too Competitive'

The WPP CEO also weighed in on Facebook and consultancies

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WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell has a few ideas about what the advertising industry’s biggest woes are and how it can move past them, but he also thinks the “tiddly-pop little industry” is too obsessed with winning.

“Our industry is too competitive,” Sorrell said at an Advertising Week panel on Monday, jokingly adding, “I’m going to get shot for saying this.” 

“Winning is really important” in advertising, he continued, but the headlines in trade magazines “are the noise, not the compass.”

“Until there’s one agency, you can’t change that,” he said, adding that he believes the industry is headed towards a future with fewer agencies and holding companies.

Sorrell

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