"Our digital businesses and our investments in high growth economies are continuing to sustain our growth in an economic environment that has become harsher as the worsening financial crisis impacts the real economy," Publicis Chairman-CEO Maurice Levy said in the agency's quarterly statement, adding, "In this context where growth will essentially come from digital and emerging markets, Publicis Groupe should improve its position against its main competitors."

While Publicis did not break out either media or digital-related revenues for the quarter or the year-to-date, it reported a 3.9% growth in organic revenues for the quarter, and 4.9% gain through the first nine months of the year.

Interpublic reported even stronger growth, albeit on an arguably weaker base. Third quarter revenues rose 11.5%, and year-to-date revenues increased 10.7%, but Chairman-CEO Michael Roth also warned that the economic climate creates an uncertain outlook for Interpublic's performance, as well.

"During the past few weeks, it has become clear that the global financial situation has begun to weigh on marketers' spending plans for both the fourth quarter and 2009," he sated. "As such, we will continue to monitor broader economic developments and to focus on meeting the needs of our clients and managing our margins."

Aegis Group reported revenue growth of 7.3% for the first three months of 2008, driven by an 8.8% gain in Aegis Media operations, which include digital agencies in the Isobar network, and traditional media agencies such as Carat.

"Overall, results for the first nine months of the year have been healthy," Aegis' management team said in its statement, adding, " In normal circumstances we would expect this to underpin good progress at constant currency for the full year. However, current uncertainty in financial markets and the more negative outlook for the global economy make it difficult to forecast accurate levels of client spend for the fourth quarter. This is our most significant trading period, with seasonally higher advertising volumes, project close-outs and determination of performance-related incentives. As a result of this reduced visibility, we have become more cautious about the outcome for the full year."

None of the three ad organizations elaborated in their quarterly statements, but in an interview released by Publicis, Levy expanded on his view that digital media would likely prove the most resilient form of marketing expenditures should the economic environment remain erratic or worsen.

"Digital is a new world and we should not compare digital to what digital was in 2000," he said. "In 2000 digital was mainly Web sites and some funny things and obviously when the market collapsed, everything collapsed. Today there is the Google of the world, there is the Yahoo of the world, and the MSN and we are all looking for addressing the communication to the end users through search and through different ways of communication. And this communication is highly measured - we know if it is working or not, we know the return on investment immediately, we know what works and what doesn't work. So I don't see digital collapsing, I don't see digital going down, I see digital still growing in 2009 and the years to come."

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