Top of Mind at Midsize Shops

Survey: Economy, war and SARS are biggest concerns

Despite fears to the contrary, the conflict in Iraq and consequent threats to boycott American products did not do much damage to midsize ad agencies, according to an e-mail survey released this month by ICOM, a global network of independent shops. And ironically, the study reveals that the SARS epidemic has boosted ad-industry prospects in some Asian markets, as clients have kept production and meetings close to home.

In a survey conducted just prior to the war, a third of responding agencies said that while the prospect of war was a concern, the struggling economy and general uncertainty about the future were bigger contributors to an overall troubling outlook.