The globe’s largest advertising companies have collectively lost over $US5 billion of their market value in 24 hours, with Amazon getting much of the blame.
The market decline started Wednesday around midday in New York and spread around the world after Publicis Groupe SA said its fourth-quarter sales fell unexpectedly due to a decline in business with consumer goods brands in the United States.
Publicis reported a 15 per cent loss in shares, which is their largest intraday drop since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Its biggest rivals’ shares dropped between four and nine per cent.
With consumer goods makers needing less of Publicis, it may also apply to other major ad industry players like Omnicom Group Inc., Dentsu Inc., WPP Plc and Interpublic Group of Cos.
Mirabaud analyst Neil Campling said in an email to Bloomberg: “The key area hit is North America.
“The combination of consumer packaged goods and North America for us points to the rise of Amazon more than anything else, offering a brand new channel for brands to connect directly to consumers”.
