RSW/US Ad Agency New Business Round Up-September

We’re putting a spotlight on some of the posts, interviews, or articles that caught our RSW eye-all centered around ad agency new business-it’s the RSW/US Ad Agency New Business Round Up-September .

The US Ad Industry Will Grow 5% in 2023, According to a New Forecast

Agencies could use some good news around growth. some interesting projections in this one:

Advertising investments should grow 5% this year, according to a new industry forecast released today by analyst Brian Wieser.

Marketers and advertisers should regard this relatively modest growth as a return to normal, pre-pandemic economic conditions. Since ecommerce boomed during the pandemic and led to increases in retail media investments and other online direct-to-consumer sales, the advertising industry benefited. Marketers largely felt that sustaining high growth would be unsustainable in the long term.

A majority of Americans have heard of ChatGPT, but few have tried it themselves

This was back in May, but we were a little surprised by this stat:

However, few U.S. adults have themselves used ChatGPT for any purpose. Just 14% of all U.S. adults say they have used it for entertainment, to learn something new, or for their work. This lack of uptake is in line with a Pew Research Center survey from 2021 that found that Americans were more likely to express concerns than excitement about increased use of artificial intelligence in daily life.

Cut to the Chase with Jeff Graham, President & CMO at Cactus | Ep.7 (part 2)

This is Cut to the Chase- The RSW/US interview series that delivers brief, but impactful views from ad agency principals and business development leaders on growth strategies and the challenges that come with them in today’s weird, evolving landscape. This is part 2 of episode 7 with Jeff Graham.

In this episode, Lee & Jeff talk:

• A piece Jeff wrote in Campaign US called “The Upside of the Great Resignation for Agencies” back in March of ’22 that absolutely still applies, including 4 pre-pandemic pitching rules.
• The consistent theme: “Cactus exists to work with brands that help people thrive in their lives”
• Cactus’s focus on Mental Health Awareness and the weekly series with Grit Digital Health (discussed in Ad Age)
• The Frame of Mind series, featuring some of the industry’s top leaders in conversation with Cactus Founder & CEO Joe Conrad
• The Cactus in-house psychologist
• Jeff’s content in Ad Week, on podcasts, and appearing at conferences-how that process works and advice to agency principals on content and getting yourself out there
• One piece of advice to marketers to make their agency relationships more effective

Thanks for reading the RSW/US Ad Agency New Business Round Up-September!