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Sorrell and Madonna rule the world

Posted in Advertising, Media, Marketing, Arif Durrani, Latest reporters' blogs April 23rd, 2008 by Arif Durrani

It struck me as I passed the magazine rack at the local newsagent, Sir Martin Sorrell and Madonna are the same. That look in the eyes, the legs, the stance; all have absolutely nothing to do with this hypothesis. No, I’m talking about something altogether more visceral.

The Queen of Pop Madge turns 50 in August, a milestone the world cannot fail to notice seeing as her lithe, aging body has been promoting it across seemingly every magazine cover for what already feels like half a century: from Russia’s Grazia to the French and English editions of Elle. Other UK coverage includes her tenth time on the front of Vanity Fair.

Since making her debut single Everybody in April 1982, Madonna’s influence and longevity has trumped any of her peers. With a lengthy string of hits and more than 200 million albums sold worldwide, she has been named the top-earning female singer by both the Guinness Book of Records and Forbes.

Like it or not, this London resident certainly commands attention.

Likewise, those in the marketing business could not have failed to notice that Sorrell, another Londoner, has dusted down his crystal ball once again to provide something of a lift to the start of the second quarter.

A series of newspaper features, trade magazine interviews, conference speeches and video web feeds, has ensured we all know the WPP chief does not believe there will be a recession this year, and we can all probably talk at length about quadrennial events and the power of the emerging tiger economies too.

Buoyed by his GroupM-fuelled forecasts, the founder and chief executive of the world’s second largest marketing group has dominated proceedings throughout April. The size of WPP’s network, coupled with astute bath-shaped observations in the past, ensure that when he speaks people pay attention.

Sorrell is to marketing what Madonna is to pop. Both seemingly omniscient but not without their detractors. The Guardian’s Julie Burchill recently captured this unique effect, noting: “Like the weather, Madonna is everywhere, reigning over the just and the unjust, friend and foe alike; loving her or hating her is as futile as loving or hating the rain, wind or snow – it’ll happen anyway.”

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