Where are advertising markets going in 2010?

After a tough year for advertising, 2010 may be an improvement if some of the first research coming out is anything to go by. A Barclays analyst points to a possible improvement as a result of increased marketing spending.

U.S. advertising sales may increase 3.5 percent this year as companies boost their national marketing spending, according to Barclays Capital. Ad sales may climb to $167.6 billion in 2010, up from a previous estimate for advertising to be unchanged from last year, Anthony J. DiClemente, a New York-based analyst with Barclays, wrote today in a note to clients via U.S. Advertising to Rise 3.5% in 2010, Barclays Says (Update1) – Bloomberg.com.

WPP CEO sir Martin Sorrell is not that optimistic though. In this interview he says he’s not so sure there is a recovery and describes it as ‘less worse’. He says that some companies are claiming victory now that they see like for like revenues down 10% instead of 30%. He also points to big regional differences in performance across the Globe. Sorell talks through past performance in this video and looks ahead at the WPP performance in 2010. He also calls the next decade the ‘decade of Latin America.’