WPP chief claims Web will change the face of advertising

NEWS The Internet will change the way advertisers spend their money, but only if they change the way a successful campaign is measured, according to WPP's managing director, Martin Sorrell. In an exclusive interview with Silicon.com, Sorrell said companies should focus the type of people viewing adverst rather than simply how many people view them. "It is effective cost rather than cost only that counts. If I wanted to reach investment analysts or Net journalists, the best way to do it would be through their email addresses. Now that would probably be a very high cost per thousand, but it is a very highly effective cost per thousand in order to do it. Clients must understand that it is effective cost per thousand and that will become increasingly effective." However, in Sorrell's opinion, the market for Internet advertising is still small. He said: "Advertising on the Internet, according to Forrester, accounts for only $2bn in 1998, it's probably only a $4bn business if you double up non US money, but that's out of a $500bn market on a worldwide basis. So it is still very small." Sorrell also talked about the addition of Internet guru Esther Dyson to his team at WPP. He praised her ability to foresee "an inordinate amount of activity" in the market. "One of the problems when companies are run by 50 year olds - like me - is that when things are going pretty well, you don't want to change them, and the Internet is causing significant changes and the levels of awareness is strong," said Sorrell.