Ad executives cautious about growth, gear up for contract battle

By Leila Abboud CANNES (Reuters) - The reluctance of big companies to spend at a time of lackluster global growth and fewer major sporting events this year are dampening demand for advertising, said the chief executives of two leading ad agencies. In separate interviews on Friday, Martin Sorrell of WPP and Maurice Levy of Publicis sounded cautious about the prospects for the advertising market, citing a lack of vibrancy in the U.S economy, weakness in Brazil, Russia and China, and Europe's