• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, January 3, 2011

Things are looking up in the advertising world -- at least for independent, mid-sized advertising and integrated marketing agencies. That's according to a survey of ICOM's global network of independent agencies, with answers from agencies spread across more than 28 countries around the world.

Agencies in 24 of the 28 countries reported that their business outlook for 2011 was "better," while three reported "the same" and just one said "worse." (This last was in Spain, where there is growing concern about government insolvency along the lines of Greece, Portugal and Ireland.)

Ad shops in 20 countries said clients are increasing their budgets from 2010-2011, with 15 forecasting client budget increases of 10% or more. Just three agencies said clients are lowering budgets, and four said clients are keeping them the same.

Given tech trends, digital media will lead spending growth, according to the ICOM survey -- with agencies in 27 out of 28 countries surveyed expecting strong growth in areas including microsites, mobile, e-mail direct marketing, search and social media, often by double-digit percentages.

Turning to other disciplines, agencies in 16 out of 28 countries expect growth in public relations, 15 in radio and TV, 13 in events and trade shows, and 13 in direct marketing.

The ICOM survey results are broadly in line with some of the most recent forecasts for the global ad industry. In early December, Magna Global released a forecast predicting compounded annual growth rates (from 2011-2016) of 19.6% for online video, 19.4% for mobile, 15.2% for digital out-of-home and 12.1% for pay TV. According to Magna, these will help drive an average annual growth rate of 6.3% for core media spending over this period, starting off strong with 9.2% growth in 2011.

However, Magna also expects significant variation between regions, with faster growth in China, Brazil, Argentina, India, Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Slower markets will include France, Spain, Greece, Ireland, and Portugal -- reflecting continuing economic uncertainty in these countries. The U.S. forecast falls in the middle, with a growth rate of 5% over this period.