Advertising Industry Outlook.

The boardroom of the Salt Lake Chamber was the setting for Utah Business magazine's ninth Industry Outlook round table. Executives from Utah's premier advertising agencies gathered to share their views on the health of their industry.

Participants included Skip Branch, Riester-Robb Harris & Love; BeLinda Emerson, LHM Advertising; Mark Fischer, Blakeslee Group; Brett Gee, Forthgear; John Haynes, Penna Powers Cutting Haynes/Proclix; Bob Hess, Razor; Scott Kempema, Boede & Partners; Peggy Lander, Richter 7; Tom Love, Love Communications; Kevin Morgan, Euro RSCG Ththam Partners; Brian Rasmussen, R&R Partners; Wayne Selph, Selph & Smith; Greg Soter, Soter Associates, Inc.; Craig Taylor, Publicis Dialog; Eric Weight, Blain Olsen White Gurr Advertising LC; and Steve Wiest, Axis 41.

Special thanks to Dr. Tim Larson, communication professor at the University of Utah, for moderating the discussion.

The group discussed industry trends, the effects of a down economy, how clients have become more media-savvy the issue of increased competition from large conglomerates, and how to foster the flow of creativity to help clients move products and services. Overall, the group was optimistic about the future and advertising's role in the new economy. As Branch stated, "One of the marvelous things about what we do day-to-day is that we sell what's best about society. We sell hope."

What effect has the downturn in the economy had on Utah advertising?

SOTER: The last several years have been surprisingly good. Everybody thinks we ought to be in bad shape, and there are a lot of things that are, yet a number of clients are willing to step up and spend money. Last year was probably our best year financially, and this year started off a little better than last.

HAYNES: This has been a tough couple of years. If you were able to pick up some Olympic business that certainly softens things. We had our best year ever last year. Without the Olympics, we would have suffered greatly because other clients were soft.

LOVE: Our business is not quite three years old and we've been able to build and establish in that time. Most clients continue to spend. People feel paper poor, but business is continuing to chug ahead in the traditional way of making money, which is through your business rather than the stock market. We get a lot more resumes.

LANDER: Clients are willing to spend money, but they want speedy results. You can't just do the same thing without showing a measurable reason for doing this. We're under more pressure to produce and spend their money wisely.

SELPH: One problem that we have been having is getting paid in a timely manner from clients. That's a good indicator that there are problems out there. We can advertise all we want, but if we're not paid in a timely manner, we as agencies have to pay those bills.

KEMPEMA: We are starting to glimpse a positive picture. Locally, there are certain pricing pressures; it's not necessarily going to go away soon. The glory days of yore, especially within the technology industry, those days are not necessarily going to feed the bank.

WEIGHT: The last few years have been terrible. We have hardly any local accounts. Corporations ended up spending more money on advertising than they needed to, and now there's a backlash and they're blaming us for it. The glory days of the late '90s, I don't know if that will happen again, but I'm not pessimistic in thinking that we're not in a viable business, and we're going to have good times ahead.

LOVE: The third-quarter television market in Utah, both locally and nationally, is up for the first time in six to seven quarters. Then the national television market and the upfront market in May was up about 12 percent. All that is a great barometer. The third and fourth quarter will be up for the first time since early 2000.

MORGAN: The flip side is that there's still media that are really suffering. Vertical publications are down 12 percent this year, especially the technology companies.

RASMUSSEN: With this economy, a trend toward our clients looking internally to what can we do in-house to save some of the expenses of doing what they do to promote themselves. We have to examine what services can we offer, what is the value of an agency, and what are the strategic points that we can bring to the situation where indeed there is a reason to use an outside source for promotion and advertising.

WEIGHT: Marketing advertisements is always a big, long item. You're lucky to have the client who actually sees that and is willing. They will probably come out ahead. Because the noise is down, you're going to stand out; your communications are going to be heard.

MORGAN: There's a lot of infighting on the client level within the different departments for the market endowment. The advertising department is trying to get their slice of the pie, channel marketing is trying to get their slice, the sales department wants money. It's a small pie, and everyone's trying to get what used to be their fair share.

KEMPEMA: We are in the process of doing a lot of planning and preparations. We have smart clients. The client anticipates the return of the economy, and they are getting poised for that. Over time it will turn, and we will start seeing a better opportunity for agencies.

How are you held accountable by your clients?

WIEST: There isn't a campaign that we do that there isn't some sort of metric tie to it. We will measure a lot better...