Businesses beginning to invest in marketing again, claims WPP boss

There has been a shift from cost cutting to investment in marketing among businesses as they look to increase sales, it has been claimed.

According to Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of ad agency WPP, last year saw a period of austerity and cost cutting by firms looking to survive the economic downturn.

However, companies are now looking at investing in growth strategies again and building their brands through marketing.

"2009 was about survival but 2010 is about top-line growth," he said at this week's World Retail Conference.

He said this shift has been marked by an increase in investment in traditional marketing rather than digital, as this is seen as better for building brands.

"There's a view that online is more about price promotion, traditional more about brand-building. It may be one of the reasons why traditional has come back a bit," he said.

Sir Martin also revealed that WPP has enjoyed its fastest growth in a decade in the last three months.

It follows a recent report from the confederation of British Industry and Harvey Nash that found that 23 per cent of firms are planning on recruiting in areas aimed at accelerating growth, such as sales, management and technical.

Written by Julian Poulter