An Ad Man Tests the Limits

(Correction: This story incorrectly stated that GroupM CEO Irwin Gotlieb had accompanied Steve Ridley, who runs subsidiary Kinetic in the Americas, on calls to U.S. outdoor advertising companies to discuss a plan to revise ad-purchasing arrangements; Ridley's visits were made without Gotlieb. The story also inaccurately said that advertising rebates are prohibited in France. While France set strict limits on rebates in 1993, requiring that the terms of any such arrangements be spelled out contractually, it did not ban them outright. The story should have included GroupM's assertion that its policy is to include any rebate arrangements in client contracts. While the article correctly noted that Gotlieb expects GroupM to continue to expand its sources of revenue, it incorrectly stated that he predicted GroupM might eventually stop representing advertisers at all.)

Wherever media and advertising executives gather—from future-of-the-industry confabs to magazine award luncheons—you will find a 58-year-old man with the haggard look of someone who would rather think than sleep. He rarely seeks people out at these events, but lets them come to him. And come they do: CEOs, CMOs, and network bigs, all jostling for face time. Eventually this man will mount the stage. A reverent hush will descend. Irwin Gotlieb, the most powerful man on Madison Avenue, is about to speak.