S4 Capital chief Martin Sorrell told analysts today on an earnings call that two key elements of the macro uncertainties that have had marketers clinging tightly to their purse strings in recent quarters have been resolved: the U.S. presidential election and the completion of the UK national budget process. That’s good news for S4, given that the U.S. is its biggest market, and the UK isn’t far behind.  

There’s still uncertainty on a number of fronts and the resolution of those two issues doesn’t mean the spending floodgates open, but Sorrell did suggest that the tech sector, where companies have been cutting their ad-marketing budgets for the past year, is beginning to stabilize. And that’s a good thing for S4, given that 44% of its revenue is derived from the sector.  

The S4 Capital chief opined that Trump will likely bring a dose of uncertainty to international affairs over the next four years, but that U.S. business leaders wanted him to win given his stand on corporate taxes and federal regulations on business activities—less of it in both cases. 

Meanwhile, S4 is has rebranded some of its core capabilities in a bid to jumpstart more demand for them in the coming years, given that the company is going to lose a significant amount of ground on an organic revenue basis in 2024.  

“Orchestration Partner,” is the offering gaining the most traction with prospects, Sorrell said. That’s the company’s hyper-personalized content offering delivered at scale and driven by AI. Again, not new, but as S4’s Chief Growth Officer Scott Spirit, put it, it’s an “updated expression of the service.”  

“Real Time Brands” is the firm’s offering that is designed to keep brands relevant and current via “always on” social media.   

And Glass Box Media is a “re-articulation” of an existing service designed to keep clients’ media planning and buying operations “fully transparent,” as compared to competing holding company principle buying offerings. Those firms acquire media and resell it to clients and those services often take a non-transparent or “black box” approach," said Spirit.