• International Herald Tribune, Friday, February 6, 2009 9:15 AM

The recent World Economic Forum in Davos sometimes seemed like a duel between the world's two most prominent ad execs, Martin Sorrell and Maurice Lévy. The two used the event as a stage to compete for the attention of advertisers, investors, journalists and fellow media magnates. When not competing for television air time, they are battling over takeover targets or clients - and trading unusually sharp barbs.

Despite their differences and antagonism, the two men are similar in some important ways. For instance, neither Lévy nor Sorrell has ever made an ad or managed a marketing campaign. Instead, they have assembled companies that own agencies.

Both also have been more aggressive than their U.S. counterparts in pushing into emerging markets, as economies slow in the West. Sorrell explains: "When you start in the U.K. or France, 95% of your business is outside that country. Your instinct is to go global." In addition, both men are in their 60s, near the age when many chief executives hand over the reins. Yet neither has surrounded himself with potential successors. Analysts quietly worry about who will ready to succeed both leaders when the time comes.

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