The agency model is broken – but you can fix it

Chris Baker and Martin Handyside

The rise of digital technology has put paid to the traditional agency model. The future will need to be more diverse, with individual agency models better adapted to the individual needs of different advertisers.

The agency model is broken – but you can fix it

Chris Baker and Martin Handyside

The current 'one size fits all' commodity model is no longer fit for purpose. The future will need to be more diverse, with individual agency models better adapted to the individual needs of different advertisers. Advertisers as well as agencies also need to look hard at their processes: applying 'lean' principles and upgrading their project management, focusing on what is core and what is better outsourced.

Warren Buffet famously observed, 'You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands