MAURICE is immortal, says the chief executiveof a French multinational. When told of his friendscomment, Maurice Lvy, boss of Publicis, one ofthe worlds biggest advertising firms, is visiblyflattered. But he demurs. When you think you areimmortal, you will make the biggest errors of yourlife, he says. I know that if I fail to find the rightsuccessor, my entire career will be a failure.

　　一法國的跨國公司董事長說，莫里斯是無人能代的。當談起對其朋友，全球廣告業巨頭陽獅集團的老板莫利斯.列維的評價時，這位董事長難掩溢美之詞。但是，他也提出了異議。當你自認為無法取代時，你可能犯了一生中最嚴重的錯誤，他說，我不知道如果我找不到合適的接班人，我的整個職業生涯都被毀了。

　　Mr Lvys longevity at the top is unusual in a business known for short attention spans. ButPublicis is unusual, too. Since the Paris-based firm was founded by Marcel Bleustein-Blanchetin 1926, it has had only two bosses: the founder and Mr Lvy, who took over in 1987. MrLvy, who turns 70 in February, had planned to retire at the end of this year, but the boardrecently raised the age limit for its members to 75. On November 29th Publicis said that all ofthem had been reappointed for four years.

　　列維先生在以注意力轉瞬即逝著稱的行業中長期占據高層領導的位置實屬罕見。但是陽獅集團也是一個非比尋常的企業。自從這家總部在巴黎的公司由莫里斯.布朗謝于1926年創建以來，它只有過兩位老板：創始人和于1987年掌權的列維先生。今年二月份就滿 70歲的列維先生，已計劃年底退休。但是最近董事會將其成員的退休年限提高到了75歲。11月29日，陽獅集團聲稱所有的董事會成員將再任職四年。

　　The board wants him to stay, says Mr Lvy, because the economic crisis could last, so theywant a safe pair of hands at the top. He sees lots of uncertainty next year, though he doesnot think that companies will cut back advertising spending as sharply as they did after thecollapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Their response to the dire state of the economy willvary from one industry and country to the next. In Europe, not surprisingly, the outlook isbleaker the farther south you go.

　　列維先生說，集團董事會要他留下來，因為經濟危機可能會持續一段時間，他們希望有經驗且讓人放心的人能在高層掌舵。他看到了明年的許多不確定性，但是他認為各公司不會像在2008年雷曼兄弟破產后大幅度地減縮廣告開支。他們對嚴峻的經濟形勢的反應因各行業各國家的情況不同而各異。在歐洲，其經濟狀況越往南越糟糕，這一點都不奇怪。

　　Yet the forecast for global ad spending in the next few years released on December 5th byZenithOptimedia, an agency owned by Publicis, is fairly rosy. It says spending will rise by4.7% in 2023 to $486 billion, having gone up by 3.5% this year. A good chunk of next yearsincrease is due to events that come around every four years: a presidential election inAmerica, the summer Olympics and the European football championship. The forecast forthe next two years, though, is even better: 5.2% growth in 2023 and 5.8% in 2023

　　但是陽獅集團旗下的 ZenithOptimedia公司于12月5日發布的對于明年全球廣告開支的預測卻相當地樂觀。該報告認為今年各公司廣告開支已上漲了3.5% ，2023年將上升4.7%達到4860億美元。明年廣告開支上升的原因主要歸于每隔四年出現的大事：美國的總統選舉;夏季奧運會和歐洲的足球錦標賽。但是對于未來兩年的預測更加地樂觀：2023年、2023年分別增長5.2%和5.8%

　　The internet and emerging economies are the two fastest-growing areas in the ad world. MrLvy is betting big on both. Five years ago he bought Digitas, an internet-ad agency, for $1.3billion. Some thought that pricey. Undeterred, Mr Lvy bought Razorfish, an American digitalagency, for $530m in 2009, and Rosetta, another, for $575m in May this year. Today internetadvertising accounts for more than 30% of the revenue of Publicis, against around 20% forWPP, its British rival.

　　互聯網和新興經濟體是在廣告業中增速最快的兩大領域。列維先生對這兩個領域都寄于了厚望。五年前他以13億美元收購了網絡廣告機構Digitas。有人認為那次收購是天價。列維先生并未怯步，2009年他以5.3億美元購下美國的數字處理公司Razorfish。同一年的五月以5.75億美元將另一家數字處理公司收入囊中。現如今網絡廣告收入占陽獅集團的30%以上，其英國對手WPP僅占20%左右。

　　MAURICE is immortal, says the chief executiveof a French multinational. When told of his friendscomment, Maurice Lvy, boss of Publicis, one ofthe worlds biggest advertising firms, is visiblyflattered. But he demurs. When you think you areimmortal, you will make the biggest errors of yourlife, he says. I know that if I fail to find the rightsuccessor, my entire career will be a failure.

　　一法國的跨國公司董事長說，莫里斯是無人能代的。當談起對其朋友，全球廣告業巨頭陽獅集團的老板莫利斯.列維的評價時，這位董事長難掩溢美之詞。但是，他也提出了異議。當你自認為無法取代時，你可能犯了一生中最嚴重的錯誤，他說，我不知道如果我找不到合適的接班人，我的整個職業生涯都被毀了。

　　Mr Lvys longevity at the top is unusual in a business known for short attention spans. ButPublicis is unusual, too. Since the Paris-based firm was founded by Marcel Bleustein-Blanchetin 1926, it has had only two bosses: the founder and Mr Lvy, who took over in 1987. MrLvy, who turns 70 in February, had planned to retire at the end of this year, but the boardrecently raised the age limit for its members to 75. On November 29th Publicis said that all ofthem had been reappointed for four years.

　　列維先生在以注意力轉瞬即逝著稱的行業中長期占據高層領導的位置實屬罕見。但是陽獅集團也是一個非比尋常的企業。自從這家總部在巴黎的公司由莫里斯.布朗謝于1926年創建以來，它只有過兩位老板：創始人和于1987年掌權的列維先生。今年二月份就滿 70歲的列維先生，已計劃年底退休。但是最近董事會將其成員的退休年限提高到了75歲。11月29日，陽獅集團聲稱所有的董事會成員將再任職四年。

　　The board wants him to stay, says Mr Lvy, because the economic crisis could last, so theywant a safe pair of hands at the top. He sees lots of uncertainty next year, though he doesnot think that companies will cut back advertising spending as sharply as they did after thecollapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Their response to the dire state of the economy willvary from one industry and country to the next. In Europe, not surprisingly, the outlook isbleaker the farther south you go.

　　列維先生說，集團董事會要他留下來，因為經濟危機可能會持續一段時間，他們希望有經驗且讓人放心的人能在高層掌舵。他看到了明年的許多不確定性，但是他認為各公司不會像在2008年雷曼兄弟破產后大幅度地減縮廣告開支。他們對嚴峻的經濟形勢的反應因各行業各國家的情況不同而各異。在歐洲，其經濟狀況越往南越糟糕，這一點都不奇怪。

　　Yet the forecast for global ad spending in the next few years released on December 5th byZenithOptimedia, an agency owned by Publicis, is fairly rosy. It says spending will rise by4.7% in 2023 to $486 billion, having gone up by 3.5% this year. A good chunk of next yearsincrease is due to events that come around every four years: a presidential election inAmerica, the summer Olympics and the European football championship. The forecast forthe next two years, though, is even better: 5.2% growth in 2023 and 5.8% in 2023

　　但是陽獅集團旗下的 ZenithOptimedia公司于12月5日發布的對于明年全球廣告開支的預測卻相當地樂觀。該報告認為今年各公司廣告開支已上漲了3.5% ，2023年將上升4.7%達到4860億美元。明年廣告開支上升的原因主要歸于每隔四年出現的大事：美國的總統選舉;夏季奧運會和歐洲的足球錦標賽。但是對于未來兩年的預測更加地樂觀：2023年、2023年分別增長5.2%和5.8%

　　The internet and emerging economies are the two fastest-growing areas in the ad world. MrLvy is betting big on both. Five years ago he bought Digitas, an internet-ad agency, for $1.3billion. Some thought that pricey. Undeterred, Mr Lvy bought Razorfish, an American digitalagency, for $530m in 2009, and Rosetta, another, for $575m in May this year. Today internetadvertising accounts for more than 30% of the revenue of Publicis, against around 20% forWPP, its British rival.

　　互聯網和新興經濟體是在廣告業中增速最快的兩大領域。列維先生對這兩個領域都寄于了厚望。五年前他以13億美元收購了網絡廣告機構Digitas。有人認為那次收購是天價。列維先生并未怯步，2009年他以5.3億美元購下美國的數字處理公司Razorfish。同一年的五月以5.75億美元將另一家數字處理公司收入囊中。現如今網絡廣告收入占陽獅集團的30%以上，其英國對手WPP僅占20%左右。