Ian Thubron's Word - 11 February 2013

The Year of the Snake is usually a tumultuous one.  The last Year of the Snake was in 2001 - the world's financial markets went into meltdown after the terrorist attacks in New York.  And 1929, the first year of the Great Depression, was also a Snake Year.  However, most analysts think that the upcoming Snake Year will be different.  Whilst the Snake is known for change and turbulence, most indicators in this part of the world are pretty good.

 

The main reason for this optimism is that China has achieved a ‘soft landing’ and will continue to see growth of seven or eight per cent in 2013 - obviously good for business.  What's more, many companies will grow by more than that, as they expand into new retail channels, increase their distribution into third, fourth and fifth tier cities, and see strengthening domestic consumption.

 

And typically, for a service business like advertising, as clients grow they spend more money on marketing and advertising, which is why I'm optimistic for our industry in the Year of the Snake.  Of course we can't be complacent and we can't ignore the continuing weakness in the US and Europe, but we are confident in our growth projections for the coming year, even though we'll have to work incredibly hard to achieve them.  But then, there's no such thing as a free lunch!

 

Ian Thubron, President TBWA\Greater China