Iapi’s latest Pathfinder Pulse Survey points to broad optimism for 2026 across Ireland’s advertising and communications industry, with agency leaders anticipating higher client spending, stronger new business pipelines and improved profitability despite persistent concerns over rising costs and regulatory pressures.
The quarterly sentiment barometer, conducted by Amárach Research among senior leaders across Iapi’s membership, shows agencies forecasting a 19% rise in client spend next year. Although current spending has dipped slightly (-3%), confidence in the year ahead remains strong, particularly among media agencies, which recorded the highest net optimism across the sector. Creative and full-service agencies also reported positive expectations.
New business growth and profitability are viewed as the strongest opportunities for 2026, continuing a pattern of cautious confidence seen in previous waves of the study. However, respondents again highlighted increasing operating costs and regulatory requirements as the most pressing challenges affecting their businesses.
A widening gap also persists between leaders’ outlook for their own companies and their view of the broader industry. While agency bossed remain confident in their individual performance projections, sentiment toward the wider sector is more reserved.
According to the research, technology and innovation, particularly AI-has surged to the top of the opportunity list and was cited by 61% of respondents. That figure has nearly doubled since May 2025, underscoring the rapid pivot toward tech-driven competitiveness and operational efficiency across the industry.
More than one-third of agency leaders said Government policy is directly affecting their operations. Among those impacted, many expressed dissatisfaction over increased costs linked to pension auto-enrolment and minimum wage rises, as well as frustration with public procurement processes and expanding regulatory obligations.
“As a real-time barometer of business confidence, Iapi’s Pathfinder continues to show the dynamism in the industry and just how quickly agency workloads and client budgets respond to shifting economic conditions,” said Siobhán Masterson, CEO of Iapi.
“Optimism in the sector prevails for 2026- particularly among media agencies- highlighting a sector that is resilient, forward-looking, and primed for growth despite ongoing concerns around costs and regulation. These quarterly insights are becoming increasingly important in understanding how confidence and caution are playing out across the wider economy.”
