Advertising Leaders See Recovery but Doubt Immediate Strong Growth; Audience Fragmentation, Media Proliferation Among Top Concerns, Disconnect Between Clients and Agencies Revealed.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 2003

A new survey conducted for the American Advertising Federation (AAF) reveals that a majority of top advertising leaders say the industry is in recovery mode, but most doubt the immediate prospect of strong growth.

The AAF Survey of Industry Leaders on Advertising Trends reveals surprising attitudes about the status of the advertising economy and future trends. Increasing audience fragmentation, media proliferation, increased importance of multiculturalism and diversity and demonstrating ROI were cited by top-tier advertising leaders as major concerns. Interestingly, the study also revealed disparate views among clients and agencies, spotlighting a possible disconnect between these two groups.

A copy of the AAF Survey of Industry Leaders on Advertising Trends, prepared by Atlantic Media Company, is available at www.aaf.org.

Additional findings include the following:

-- Advertising industry leaders face a diverse set of current

challenges, citing the following as their two most significant

concerns: convincing management to invest in branding (20

percent) and demonstrating advertising return on investment

(17 percent).

-- An overwhelming majority of industry leaders (88 percent)

acknowledge that multiculturalism and diversity have become

more important with recent shifts in U.S. demographics.

However, clients (55 percent) are less likely than agency

professionals (75 percent) to appraise the future impact of

this growth as significant.

-- Sixty-eight percent of agency professionals surveyed see the

convergence of content and marketing as a significant trend in

the industry's future, compared to only 36 percent of

client-side executives.

-- Thirty-six percent of clients cited developing compelling

creative as their top challenge, in sharp contrast to agency

executives (25 percent) who cited demonstrating significant

advertising/marketing return on investment as their major

concern.

-- Volkswagen, Nike, Budweiser and the "Got Milk?" campaigns were

referenced most frequently by industry leaders as the most

successful advertising campaigns of the last five years.

Survey highlights were presented today by Wallace S. Snyder, AAF president and CEO, during the AAF's Advertising Hall of Achievement Alumni Roundtable in New York City. The event was held in honor of the 10th anniversary of the program and featured a lineup of influential industry CEOs and top-level executives who are alumni of these prestigious awards.

As the "Unifying Voice for Advertising," the American Advertising Federation (AAF), headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a Western Region office in Newport Beach, Calif., is the trade association that represents 50,000 professionals in the advertising industry. AAF's 130 corporate members are advertisers, agencies and media companies that comprise the nation's leading brands and corporations. AAF has a national network of 210 ad clubs and connects the industry with an academic base through its 210 college chapters.

Atlantic Media Company is the parent company of The Atlantic Monthly. A true general interest magazine, The Atlantic regularly covers important trends, innovations and predictions regarding politics and foreign policy, business and the economy, history and literature, and science and technology. Founded in 1857 by Emerson, Longfellow, Lowell and Holmes, it remains a destination for America's most prominent writers on its most pressing issues. The Atlantic aspires to challenge and engage the nation's business, political, and intellectual elite by consistently offering in-depth editorial on a range of current topics and concerns.