What happens when you flip the traditional agency business model?
“I hope I have to pay you a fortune.” A client texted me this message recently in reaction to a campaign proposal. This client is partic...
10 Apr 2015 7983 Views
“I hope I have to pay you a fortune.”
A client texted me this message recently in reaction to a campaign proposal. This client is participating in a pilot project my agency started last year. We wanted to see what would happen if we flipped the traditional agency business model. In recent months, that question has been answered several times over with reactions similar to his.
The advertising agency business model is not something I’d ever given a lot of thought to until my friend Lee, one of Europe’s top corporate lawyers, asked me to explain it to him. I described how agencies pitched for business, ran projects, set prices, billed for their services, and how they were staffed. I saw a furrow cross his brow that only grew deeper the more I explained. When I finished, Lee looked at me quizzically and said, “So, let me get this straight…” What followed was an accurate paraphrasing of everything I’d just described. But, hearing it spoken back had a profound effect on me. I’d never realized how ludicrous the whole thing sounded…
Read the full article, “Is It Time to Flip the Agency Model?” on Talent Zoo. Read another article about the flipped approach to business on our blog, too.
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Speaker, consultant & founder of Duffy Agency, the flipped digital agency that provides accelerated growth to aspiring international brands.
2 replies
Good for you and your team to start flipping the traditional model! It’s hard enough to put a price tag on an individual’s creativity, let alone a house full of smart, creative people. The way agency members are compensated should definitely be on the value, not on the clocked time like clerical roles and other similar traditional jobs.
It’s good to start new things and come out from the traditional approach. Many companies out there in the market who succeed by their traditional way, but not everyone can. So better to change than thrown out.