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Sorrell forecasts 2% growth for WPP this yearSir Martin Sorrell has upped the forecast for WPP from flat to 2% per cent growth for the year, following three months of "stabilisation" .Sir Martin said the group had seen sequential monthly improvements since the start of the year, with "a little bit of growth" of 1% in March. WPP's revenues during the first quarter of 2010 stood at $3.2 billion, down 1.82% year-on-year. In an interview with CNBC filmed in Hong Kong, he also admitted "sequential growth" is expected to continue in April, May and June. The WPP chief said that Asia will continue to be a "brighter spot" for the holding group, adding that the advertising network has a "heavier exposure - 27% to be precise - in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, and that will come through eventually."Avatar helps Rupert Murdoch's News Corp boost quarterly profits to $839 mnThe blockbuster success of the science-fiction movie Avatar, together with improved advertising at television stations and Fleet Street papers, helped Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation power through Wall Street expectations with quarterly profits of $839million.Underlying operating earnings at the global media empire were up by 55%. But News Corp's bottom-line profit was lower than last year's third-quarter figure of $2.7billion, due to one-off gains a year ago from tax benefits and the sale of shares in digital security business, NDS. Murdoch identified Avatar as one of his company's top success stories, alongside growth at his US television channel Fox News: "Content is driving our outstanding performance, from the history-making film Avatar to the unstoppable Fox News," he said.Standard Chartered's 'Here for good' campaign get four artists togetherStandard Chartered's new campaign 'Here for good' marks a paradigm shift in the bank's advertising strategy. TBWA Singapore, Standard Chartered's global strategic and creative partner, has taken a unique approach to a series of films produced for the bank's new global communications campaign. The films, the first of which was aired debuted on 21 April, create visual narratives of the 'Here for good' brand belief through the eyes of four very distinct artists who live and work in the bank's major markets. Each artist was asked to create a 60-second film based on their ability to articulate the brand's belief of 'Here for good' in their own unique way. "The concept for the films very much lived or died on our ability to find the right artist to interpret and produce films to represent the bank's footprint, across Africa, the Middle East and Asia," said Phillip Brett, president, TBWA for South and Southeast Asia.Johnson & Johnson calls for global pitch for baby products portfolioJohnson & Johnson has called for a creative pitch for its portfolio of baby products, a move that could deal a blow to both its longtime lead creative shop for that brand, Interpublic Group of Cos.' Lowe, along with digital shop Profero.The agency review, which will take around six months to complete, follows other recent changes to the health-care company's agency roster. It comes as the company is under tremendous pressure to boost sagging sales and faces FDA scrutiny after repeated recalls for some of its over-the-counter medications. The global account is pegged at about $20 million -- with about a tenth of that figure, some $2 million, representing the fee in North America. Around 10 network shops, which could include non-roster agencies, is expected to pitch for the account. Lowe and Profero are both expected to defend the business.Newsweek on block as era of the news magazine FadesThe Washington Post Company has announced that it would sell Newsweek, raising questions about the future of the newsweekly, first published 77 years ago.Donald E. Graham, chairman and chief executive of the Washington Post Company, said in an interview that the decision was purely economic."I did not want to do this, but it is a business," he said. The magazine would lose money in 2010, he said, and "we don't see a sustained path to profitability for Newsweek."The move comes as companies have been sloughing off and revamping other mass magazines. TV Guide was sold for $1 to a private equity firm; Businessweek was sold for $5 million in cash to Bloomberg L.P.; and Reader's Digest was given an editorial overhaul as it slashed circulation.The circulations of Time and Newsweek now stand about where they were in 1966, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

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