Seven fat years (almost certainly) ahead for advertising industry
29 Apr 2010
In the advertising cycle of six to eight boom years followed by three years of bust, when do we know that the good times are officially back? When Sir Martin Sorrell says so, and when Google and the New York Times Co prove it in their results.
It's kind of like the story from the Old Testament about Pharaoh and his weird dreams. You know, the one about the seven thin cows that rose out of the river and ate the seven fat cows; and the other one about the seven withered ears of corn that ate the seven healthy ears.
These were the selfsame dreams, you'll remember, that were interpreted by Joseph - who, to his eternal credit, never thought there was anything strange in the idea of wheat eating itself - as foretelling seven lean years and seven abundant years for the people of Egypt.
The parallels with the modern advertising industry are so obvious it's a wonder Mel Brooks never wrote a pantomime on the theme.
Continue reading the full story on www.thedailymaverick.co.za.
About Kevin Bloom
Kevin Bloom, associate editor of www.thedailymaverick.co.za, is an award-winning journalist, editor and author who has written for a wide array of South African and international publications. In his magazine career, he was the founding editor of The Media, editor-at-large of Maverick and joint editor of Empire. Email him at kevin@thedailymaverick.co.za.
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