The outgoing chairman of the Association for Communication & Advertising, Mike Gendel, has painted a gloomy picture of the industry’s operating environment, saying the profession over the past year has performed under extraordinarily difficult trading circumstances. This was worsened by the technical economic recession and negative market sentiment caused by the "state capture" saga. The result has been lacklustre growth in marketing spend.Gendel says projected GDP growth of 0.8% in 2017 will result in depressed consumer demand and a knock-on conservative approach by marketers.With skills development an important pillar of transformation, he also says there is a need to up the game in marketing the profession to teenagers, their parents and school administrators.
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