John Epta.
Brands are moving faster, thinking beyond campaigns and expecting more from their agency partners - and they are struggling to keep up. John Epta, Principal and Co-founder of Tonic The Agency, explores why agencies need to shift their mindset to keep their winning edge.
Something is broken in the way agencies approach creativity. And if we don’t fix it, we risk becoming obsolete.
It’s not that agencies have stopped producing great work - we see brilliant campaigns all the time. But the process that gets us there? It’s creaking under the weight of inefficiency, silos and outdated ways of working. In an era where brands demand speed, agility and tangible impact, the traditional creative process is struggling to keep up.
The problem is that creativity has traditionally been thought of as a linear process. For decades, agencies have followed a formula: strategy hands off to creative, creative hands off to production, production hands off to media.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this process, it does risk sacrificing reactivity to process. By the time many agencies may finish going through the traditional linear journey, any or all the cultural references may have already changed. Such is the pace and speed of the consumer’s online world.
Agencies are also struggling to manage the increased number of touchpoints that are now (rightly) typically included within media strategies.We all know that marketing budgets have remained flat (or shrunk) but the number of required executions have increased exponentially. This is not news for anybody.
The rise of digital, social and performance-driven marketing also means that content now exists in an ecosystem that permits ongoing dialogue - fluid, fast-moving and constantly iterated on. Yet many brands (and subsequently their agencies) are still working in a way that assumes a broadcast-first approach, where customer communications are one-way announcements of why consumers should buy/book/sell with them vs. a two-way dialogue.
We need to stop thinking about creativity as a linear journey with a single “big idea” at the center. Instead, we need to embrace a networked approach - one where creativity flows dynamically across different platforms, channels and formats from the very beginning.
That also means an increased focus on what happens after a customer converts - that’s where the real value is. Brands that invest in retention strategies - customer experience, loyalty programs, post-purchase engagement - see significantly higher long-term returns. Yet, most agencies aren’t involved in these areas.
Why? Because traditionally, they haven’t needed to be. But that’s changing.
Brands want partners that don’t just help them get customers but keep them. Agencies that expand their remit beyond campaigns to customer lifecycle marketing will not only add value but also secure longer-term engagements. Retainer relationships over project-based work? That’s the holy grail for agency stability.
Another one of the biggest issues agencies face is the disconnect between creative and media teams. Too often, media channel planning is an afterthought - something figured out once the creative is already locked in. The result? Work that isn’t fit for purpose across different platforms, or worse, doesn’t perform.
In a world where algorithms dictate visibility, media shouldn’t be separate from creative - it should be embedded into the process. That means creatives need to understand media constraints and opportunities upfront.
Of course, the bigger shift underpinning all these changes is that there is a growing demand for agencies to think beyond creativity and embed technology at the core of what they do. Brands today expect more than ideas - they want integrated solutions that bring marketing, technology and business growth together. If agencies don’t evolve to meet this need, someone else will.
What is clear is that the next generation of agencies will blend creativity with technology, data and product thinking to drive real business results.
We’re already seeing traditional marketing agencies begin to look more like tech-creative hybrids, with most needing some sort of capacity to not only execute campaigns but build platforms, automation tools and AI-driven experiences that drive engagement long after the ad has been served.
History has shown us what happens when agencies wait too long to adapt. Take SEO as an example - there was a time when only a few niche agencies specialised in it. Then brands realised its importance and demand skyrocketed. The agencies that had already built expertise in SEO won big. The rest scrambled to catch up.
AI and automation are following the same trajectory. Right now, many agencies are treating AI as an afterthought - a buzzword to throw into pitches. But in a few years, AI-driven personalisation, content generation and media optimisation will be the foundation of marketing. Agencies that invest in AI today will lead the industry tomorrow.
Those that don’t will be playing catch-up - again.
It’s even more important to adopt this forward-thinking mindset when we understand that marketers today are being bombarded with messages that they can do it all in-house. That they can buy some AI tools, build an internal team and cut out the agency middleman.
And while some brands may take that route, the truth is, agencies still have an essential role to play - what we have to prove is the value of an outside perspective and different ways of working to deliver results.
To stay relevant, we need to:
- Break down internal silos and foster true collaboration between creative, media, strategy, and production;
- Rethink outdated briefing processes that separate strategic thinking from execution;
- Design ideas that are fluid, adaptable and built for the platforms where audiences actually engage;
- Being comfortable with constant iteration and real-time feedback rather than rigid, pre-set campaign cycles.
Clients want work faster than ever. But speed can’t come at the expense of strategy and craft. The challenge for agencies is to find a way to move at the pace of culture without sacrificing creative integrity.
The sweet spot lies in structured agility - having systems in place that allow for rapid iteration while still maintaining creative excellence.
For those of us leading agencies, this isn’t just about staying competitive - it’s about survival. The industry is shifting, whether we like it or not. The question is, will we evolve with it or get left behind?