How agencies can become valued brand partners instead of interchangeable vendors

An irony haunts the halls of our industry. Every day, we give clients adamant counsel to defend their brands, wrapped up in strategic frameworks and compelling narratives. Then, we commit the cardinal sins we warn against. As CFOs, we need to wake up. We tell our clients that commoditization is the death knell of profit margin, yet we allow ourselves to be commoditized daily. We pitch our services in procurement-led beauty contests, where our creative ideas—the very essence of our value—are given away for free. Then we allow our worth to be calculated in hourly rate and FTE calculations. Would we ever advise a premium brand to compete solely on price? We counsel clients to differentiate their offerings and to build unique value propositions that command premium pricing. Meanwhile, most agencies' service descriptions read like carbon copies. “Full-service,” “integrated,” “strategic,” “creative”—these words appear so frequently in pitch decks that they've lost all meaning. We cluster in the same “creative” hubs, compete for the same talent and structure our services in remarkably similar ways. Yet we tell our clients to zag when others zig. We've become walking examples of the generic positioning we warn them against. Super Bowl ad review The best and worst commercials from the Big Game Click here We are masters at building other brands, yet by and large, our own marketing is an afterthought—if we think of it at all. When was the last time you saw a truly innovative agency self-promotion? Somehow, our own brand-building is an unspoken taboo. As the financial stewards of our agencies, we are partly to blame for this hypocrisy. We've allowed procurement departments to dictate the terms of engagement. We've accepted the commoditization of our services by focusing on utilization rates rather than value creation. We've prioritized short-term profitability over long-term brand building. The financial implications of maintaining the status quo are severe. As more clients move work in-house and consultancies encroach on our territory, agencies risk becoming interchangeable vendors rather than valued partners as our margins continue to be compressed. The solution lies in taking our own advice. Here’s what we need to do: Evolve our pricing models Move away from the billable hour and approach pricing like an economist, not an accountant. This shift in mindset alone will move us into value-based pricing that reflects the impact of our work. Innovate our service offerings The world doesn't need another full-service agency. It needs specialized partners who can solve specific business problems in unique ways. Invest in our own brand We can't expect to be paid on value if we can't clearly articulate our impact. That takes distinctive positioning, not capability buzzwords. It’s up to us to ensure we allocate real budgets – not just leftover time – to brand building. Gen Z Career Forum Get practical advice on launching your career and excelling in the industry Register today Rethink our talent equation Challenge conventional wisdom about where and how (and with whom) we deliver our services. That means challenging the "traditional" recruiting pool and rethinking what an ideal "fixed" vs. "contract" ratio could be. This would allow us to better answer ever-changing customer demands. As CFOs, we must champion the transformation from efficiency metrics to value creation, from cost control to strategic investment in our own brands. It’s up to us to authorize the differentiation we preach, walk away from RFPs that devalue our work and prioritize our own brands even when client demands are high. We won’t make the change alone—and we won’t actually do much of it—but we need to be the catalyst. Then our agencies can escape the traps we set for ourselves. NextGen Marketing Summit Join us for a crash course on Gen Z, DTC marketing and the creator economy Register today

How agencies can become valued brand partners instead of interchangeable vendors

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