The Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI), the representative body for advertising and communications agencies, has released the results of its latest Pathfinder Pulse Survey quarterly sentiment barometer. The study by Amárach Research indicates a slightly contracting but highly polarised market, with a three per cent fall in client spend.
There is slight growing optimism for next year with the good news being that client spend is forecast to rise by 19 per cent, with strong expectations for new business and profitability. Members have ongoing concerns around costs and regulation. Those on the media side expressed the most optimism, with creative and full-service businesses still in growth.
Key findings from Pathfinder:
- New business growth and improved profitability are viewed as the strongest opportunities for 2026, though agencies continue to flag rising operating costs and regulatory requirements as key challenges.
- Agency leaders report greater confidence in their own business performance than in the wider advertising and communications sector, highlighting a continued gap between individual expectations and broader industry outlook.
- Tech and innovation (AI) is the leading opportunity in sentiment (61 per cent), up sharply from 31 per cent in May of this year – signalling a rapid shift toward tech-driven competitiveness.
- Over one-third of members surveyed report a direct impact from Government policy, but a handsome minority express dissatisfaction, citing extra costs (pension auto-enrolment, increases in minimum wage), public procurement process and regulatory burdens.
“Pathfinder continues to show just how quickly agency workloads and client budgets respond to shifting economic conditions,” Siobhán Masterson, CEO at IAPI, said. “Optimism in the sector prevails for 2026 – particularly among media agencies – despite ongoing concerns around costs and regulation.” Over half of IAPI member CEOs took part in the research.
Pictured above are Siobhán Masterson, IAPI and Chris Cashen, Mindshare
