, Columnist
Madison Avenue's Amazon Problem
Faced with an online threat, consumer goods giants are paring spending.
This article is for subscribers only.
When you run an advertising agency, your clients' problems are your problems. That's why Martin Sorrell, the CEO of WPP Plc, has spent so much time fretting about Amazon.com Inc. lately.
The makers of consumer and packaged goods, which are among the world's biggest advertisers, are spooked about Amazon's pending $13.7 billion takeover of U.S. supermarket chain Whole Foods Market Inc.. For Procter & Gamble Co. and Unilever Plc, the deal's direct impact will initially be modest given Whole Foods' tiny market share and high-end positioning. But given how fast shopping is changing in the Internet era, it underscores how consumer goods companies' prices, margins and customer loyalty face long-term threats.