There will not be fond recollections of the year that was once the calendar closes out on 2003. With only wind and tumbleweed to mark the passing of the first half of the year, most industry cowpokes will happily ride this one into the sunset. But do recent reviews suggest a return to life?

Media reviews for Priszm Brandz, the Ontario provincial government, and Canadian Tire, added to tales of four or five others valued in the tens of millions, are giving some the impression that activity is returning to the badlands.

David Campbell, Toronto-based managing partner of MBS, for one, sees the increasing account activity as good news all around.

‘Over the last year everybody was pretty defensive…. Now, I think it’s a positive sign for the economy that people are investigating other opportunities,’ he says. ‘It also shows that media is not a commodity, that like the creative end of the business, if people feel that they can get a better media performance, it is worth all the anguish that they have to go through for a media review.’

But Lorraine Hughes, Toronto-based president of OMD Canada, says the fact that a bunch of clients are looking for new media partners is not necessarily good news.

‘Do you see companies putting their business up for review as a recovery, per se?’ she asks. ‘I think when things don’t go up for review then you’re assuming that it’s a pretty happy partnership…. I think the fact that there’s more activity in that area would just tell me that there are a handful of clients that want to take a look around and see what’s out there.’