ABSTRACT
The research reported in this book was conducted in 2007 and prior to the credit crisis and ensuing global recession that has had major impacts on all sectors of the world economy. As a result, we are not in a position to provide a detailed synopsis of how the recession has impacted upon the advertising industry, not least because at the time of writing in early 2010 agencies were still in the process of adapting to the changing strategies and demands of clients in this new economic world. However, we are able to paint a picture of the way the recession has affected our studied global agencies and three case study cities, New York, Los Angeles and Detroit, drawn from a number of follow-up interviews with advertisers originally spoken to during data collection in 2007. These insights are supplemented by analysis of media reports of changes in advertising spending and agency strategies. In addition, our interpretations are enhanced through being able to draw on the argument developed in earlier chapters about the way territorial and network assets define the role of a city in advertising globalization to explain the differing impacts of the recession on advertising work in New York, Los Angeles and Detroit. In short, the recession helps to further confirm that the cities with the strongest and most resilient advertising economies are those with robust territorial and network assets. In this coda we, therefore, consider the impacts of the recession on the advertising industry, with particular focus on the US context, and then draw upon our follow-up interviews to analyse the specific impacts on New York, Los Angeles and Detroit during 2008 and 2009.
