Why agency brand matters more than ever

It wasn’t that long ago that I was walking through the doors of 40 Chancery Lane for the first time. Not that I needed much prep on what to expect - even the logo on the top of my draft contract made me feel something. The Saatchi & Saatchi name is recognised way beyond the advertising industry.

As someone who’s spent nearly 20 years working in agency growth and reputation, I’ve lost count of the number of times a client has said they’re looking for a ‘top tier’ agency on that first phone call. Most could name four or five of those agencies on remarkably sparse information and gut feel. Because that’s what strong brands do - they create shortcuts for trust, reliability and decision making.

Yet despite this, consolidation is once again back on the agency agenda. As the industry chases efficiency and simplicity, differentiation and meaningful choice are quietly diminishing for our clients.

The latest IPA Bellwether stats show marketing spend levels are flat (at best), with company-level financial confidence falling to its most negative level in over three years. Industry-wide sentiment was even weaker, with pessimists outnumbering optimists by almost 4:1. In short, appetite for risk is falling faster than marketing budgets.

Pair this with data from Campaign’s CMO Outlook Report, which shows that 61 per cent of clients ‘may’ run a pitch in 2026, and you get a stark picture. More pitches, for clients who are feeling increasingly risk-averse - coming into an undifferentiated market which is fast consolidating into larger, homogenised collections of capabilities and people.

In conditions like this, clients don’t widen their criteria; they narrow it. They look for signals they can defend internally. And in creative services, agency brand is one of the few signals that still carries weight before the pitch even begins.

This matters even more in a market where data, AI, and production are rapidly becoming commoditised. When everyone has similar tools, capabilities and operating models, differentiation collapses. In those conditions, agency brands are not decoration. They are signals of intent, belief, and how risk is shared. Brand is what allows clients to choose before spreadsheets start to blur.

Yes, the industry needs efficiency. Yes, it needs agility and scale. But if the answer to every commercial challenge is to blur, merge or retire the very brands that create emotional gravity, then we should at least be honest about the trade-off.

Because when all is said and done, it’s difficult to preach the power of brands to our clients, while quietly dismantling our own.

Oli Richards is chief growth officer of Saatchi & Saatchi and co-chair of the IPA New Business & Marketing Group