Agencies: Because We’re Worth It

It’s been an interesting few weeks, hasn’t it. International Women’s Day. The Manosphere. Jessie Buckley winning an Oscar. All of it, in different ways, has sparked a conversation about worth - who has it, who defines it, and who gives it away too easily.

It’s a conversation often directed at individuals, but it feels just as relevant to our industry.

I recently stepped into a newly created role as chief growth officer at Droga5. The title reflects something I’ve believed for some time: growth in our industry can no longer be defined simply as new business.

For years, agency growth has been measured by the pitch cycle. The size of the pipeline. The scale of the win. It’s a model that’s delivered success and fuelled the ‘who’s best at new business’ leaderboards. And there’s no denying the thrill of it all.

But it’s also shaped behaviours that no longer serve us. We over-service. We over-extend. We give away our best thinking in competitive processes with no guarantee of return – and sometimes even with hazy knowledge of the size of the prize – and we accept it as the cost of entry.

Growth today demands a broader lens.

Our clients are under intense pressure. Growth is a board-level priority. AI is reshaping expectations. Every investment is scrutinised. CMOs are expected to drive demand and demonstrate commercial impact at the same time. In that context, growth cannot just mean acquisition. It has to mean value creation.

Retention and growing existing clients are well proven to be the biggest contributors to growth. That is where sustainable value sits - through building enduring partnerships. And yet, as an industry, we still devote extraordinary amounts of time and talent to open market pitches. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) estimates that the average total cost of a competitive pitch, once all hours are included, is around $200,000. That’s a very expensive hat to throw into the ring.

The question is not whether pitching has a place. It absolutely does. It introduces new relationships, new challenges, new ambition. And we all know how gloriously galvanising a pitch can be for a team and agency. The question is whether it should remain the centre of our growth model.

If we want to grow as agencies, we have to help our clients grow in ways that last.

That means focusing as much energy on deepening existing partnerships as we do on pursuing new ones. It means bringing our best thinking not only to the first conversation, but to the fifth year of a relationship (cue Martin Jones’ anecdote of the client who wanted to review their agency because ‘they stopped giving us the fancy biscuits’).

Success means aligning our creative ambition directly to our clients’ commercial priorities and staying close enough to the business to influence them.

It also requires confidence.

Confidence to be selective about the opportunities we pursue. To protect the value of our intellectual property. To price our work in line with the impact it creates. And to step into conversations about growth, not just communications.

My new role signals the emerging broader view. Growth is not a department. It’s not a moment in time. It’s an organising principle. It’s about asking: where can we create the most meaningful, sustained impact? And how do we build the kinds of partnerships that allow that to happen?

Looking ahead five years, our industry will look different. There will be fewer purely transactional relationships and more long-term partnerships. Shared risk and reward models will become more common. Success will be measured not only by wins, but by the depth and durability of the relationships we build.

Clients won’t simply look for creative agencies. They’ll look for creative growth partners.

If creativity truly drives growth, then we must treat it as the strategic asset it is – not something to be traded speculatively, but something to be invested in over time.

Because we are worth it.

Amber Faulkner is chief growth officer for Droga5 London