Following years of good DE&I intentions, big pharma brand Sanofi is rigorously auditing its media buys to understand its compliance, as well impact on media performance.

"To you from failing hands we throw the torch for you to hold it high," Brian Wieser said, praising Kate Scott-Dawkins as GroupM's new chief ad industry forecaster.

If there is a positive angle to the deceleration of ad spending, it's that it is coming out of big social media platforms, and being reallocated to smaller publishers and traditional media outlets.