The challenges facing us over the next decade

Sir Martin Sorrell spoke at the IDM’s annual lunch today. He spoke for 50 minutes without notes both on the strategy that WPP has adopted for the next 5 years and the global trends in politics and population growth that will impact on marketing over the next decade.

His key messages were:-

The shift in economic power from West to East
The diminishing supremacy of traditional advertising
Increased focus on direct, accountable marketing
The continued influence of the Web

Two points he focused on were that organic growth is best and on the importance of getting internal communication right. In fact he singled out the latter as his most important challenge. But then I suppose with 97,000 staff across 106 countries and having grown by acquisition rather than organically it must pose an enormous challenge.

It was slightly odd then that he chose to stress the importance of organic growth over acquisition. Organic growth, he said, though slower is easier to manage. Don’t just look at acquire but look to take on staff, train them, retain them and grow organically.

At the end of his speech he was presented with an honorary fellowship at the IDM. Well deserved and well overdue.