Group M: Nine percent up in 2009

Things are not as bad as they seem. Group M chief executive officer, Vikram Sakhuja, is, as he calls it, cautious. But he’s optimistic as well. Considering the slowdown in the economy, Sakhuja’s prognosis should make for a happy start to the year. “Looking at 2009, we are cautious and are projecting a much sharper drop in ad spend growth than in ‘08 -- but we are still looking at 9% over ‘08 , and that’s without taking elections into account -- and they are a contributor. We expect to close ‘08 at 15% over ‘07.”