What’s Working for Agencies Right Now: Five Lessons from our Agency Leaders Roundtable

The agency market is tough right now, but the leaders in it are far from standing still. That was the clear message from our recent breakfast roundtable at The Ivy Club in Soho, co-hosted with Ellie Farrugia, Founder and Managing Director of Kinsman & Co.

We brought together leaders of marketing and digital agencies, spanning media, performance, creative, brand strategy, social, PR and digital.

What struck me most was how much these leaders had in common, whatever their discipline, and how generously they shared what is working. Here are five themes from the morning, along with the idea’s agency leaders are putting into practice right now.

1. Big Ideas Are the Premium Product

In a world where AI can produce content at speed, brands are placing more value than ever on original creative thinking. Several leaders said clients want ideas they simply cannot generate with a prompt, and some agencies have grown their creative teams to meet that demand.

The catch is that every idea now needs to earn its keep. Clients increasingly expect creative work to drive a clear commercial return, and some are agreeing sales forecasts before work even begins.

This chimes with what we heard at a recent CMO roundtable we hosted. Brand leaders told us they value agencies most for creative ideas and for work that would be disruptive to manage internally.

There is good news on brand, too. Several B2B businesses are investing seriously in brand building for the first time, and many clients no longer distinguish between B2B and B2C. They simply want one agency to own their brand across the board.

2. Price the Value, Not the Hours

Pricing was the topic the room returned to most. Procurement teams often assume AI should cut agency fees by a set percentage, while agencies are paying more for AI tools, software and the senior people best placed to use them well.

The encouraging part is that leaders are finding practical ways through. The consensus was clear: if AI reduces the time a task takes, billing by the hour becomes a losing argument, so the future lies in putting a price on ideas and outcomes. Most expect value-based pricing to become far more common within the next year, and the agencies that prepare now will be best placed when it does.

3. Data Needs a Strategist

Brands now hold far more customer data than they did five years ago, and much of it is being kept in-house. That can make it harder for agencies to plan campaigns and prove results, but the room saw a real opportunity in it.

Many clients have the data but not the marketing expertise to turn it into strategy. In-house analysts are often skilled at building queries and spreadsheets, yet the link between data and strategic thinking is missing. That is exactly where agencies add value, and it is not something AI can fully replace. As one leader put it, AI can spot trends, but it cannot provide the strategic springboard a brand needs.

There was more good news on production, which is starting to move back to agencies as brands look for economies of scale and step back from managing fast-moving technology themselves.

Leaders also noted that legal and IT teams now have a bigger say in how agencies work, as some clients introduce strict AI policies.

4. Human Is the Edge

For all the talk of AI, the most energising part of the morning was about people. Clients still want to talk to experts, brief real people and have strategic conversations. Several leaders expect experiential and face-to-face to come back in a big way, as audiences crave genuine connection.

Team structures are evolving to reflect this. Many agencies are moving from the traditional pyramid towards an hourglass, with senior strategists at the top, junior talent handling much of the delivery and a thinner middle layer. Leaders could see the benefits and were equally clear that investing in juniors is what makes the model sustainable, because tomorrow’s senior counsel needs developing today.

Critical thinking was the skill everyone wants more of. As one leader observed, AI tends to agree with you, so the ability to question its output, form an independent view and handle a tough question in a client meeting is becoming a real differentiator. Some felt this could mean a welcome swing towards people with humanities backgrounds, who are trained to analyse and challenge sources.

5. Stronger Together

One of the loveliest moments came near the end, when several leaders said how refreshing it was to hear peers speak so honestly. Networking events can be all polish and headline wins, whereas this room was candid about what is hard and generous about what is working.

That openness sparked a genuine appetite for agencies to collaborate more, particularly on developing the next generation of talent. Leaders also spoke about looking after their people, recognising that resilient teams have worked incredibly hard this year and that small, consistent gestures make a big difference.

Final Thoughts

The morning left me feeling genuinely optimistic about the agency sector. The challenges are real, but so is the creativity being applied to them. The agencies doing well are offering thinking and judgement that brands cannot easily reproduce in-house, pricing that value with confidence, and investing in the people who will carry it forward.

Most of all, it showed what happens when agency leaders come together and share openly. Everyone left with fresh ideas and new connections, and we are already looking forward to the next one.

My thanks to Ellie for co-hosting, and to every leader who joined us and shared their experience so generously.

Whether you’re hiring senior marketing and agency talent or considering your next career move, our team would be delighted to support you.

Daniela Mamica is Head of Marketing UK at Hanson Search, working across senior and leadership level marketing roles.