Advertising Industry Implodes, New Model Emerges - Will Other Professional Services Embrace Midwestern, Small, Low-Tech, Very Human?
Once glam and dripping with creative cool, the advertising sector is crashing, documents The Wall Street Journal. The 3,000 jobs lost last December had represented just the tip of the iceberg. Bigger signs of existential trouble are these: "The market capitalization of Ogilvy parent WPP ... has fallen from more than $30 billion in 2017 to less than $4 billion today ... Publicis Groupe saw its shares fall sharply in February after its outlook failed to dispel investor concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on its business." Amidst this implosion one model is proving effective. Unlike the ethos of the old-line ad agencies it celebrates being midwestern and is based there for cost-efficiency, doesn't aim for rapid growth positioning that as stability, is low-tech and has a close interface with clients. That's the Bark Firm, housed in Casper, Wyoming. Operating in the brand space since 2009, it's thriving. Could that...