Why network might not work
Why B2B comms leaders are fed up with big agencies.
Suffering from small fish in a big pond syndrome? Promised the exec team but left with the intern? Campaigns which feel just a bit, well, generic? Our Global Head of PR, Lottie West, explains why you could be experiencing the wave of big agency fatigue which has been sweeping through B2B marketers since the pandemic.
If the fate of the holding companies is a barometer for the state of the industry, then at first glance it would seem that 2025 is off to a shaky start for PR. But according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report on the state of the marketing industry, PR has demonstrated a level of resilience not seen across all sectors. So what’s going on?
PR Week’s recently released UK Top 150 makes for interesting reading. Agencies ranking from 50 to 75 in terms of revenue saw levels of growth almost double that of the behemoths in the top 25 – 16% vs 9%. Clearly growth from a small base is easier, but this isn’t the only part of the story.
The previously received wisdom that “no one gets fired for hiring [insert name of big agency here]” no longer holds true. Increasingly, smaller independent agencies are punching above their weight and winning high-profile six- or seven-figure briefs.
The pandemic and subsequent shift to hybrid working might have played a role here. In the before times, working with a big agency went hand-in-hand with visits to big shiny offices (and cracking into the good biscuits). Covid levelled the playing field, and meetings with agencies became much more about the strength of the relationship than the bells and whistles. While some bigger groups (*cough* WPP *cough*) have mandated a return to office, not all clients have followed suit, and the world is a fundamentally different place than it was in 2019.
In turbulent times, clients need agility, flexibility, and trusted counsel – all of which independent agencies are arguably better placed to deliver. And with marketing budgets under increasing scrutiny, the shiny agency HQ begins to lose its lustre, no matter how good the biscuits are.
We frequently speak to clients who are growing tired of the challenges of working with bigger agencies. Some of the things we most frequently hear are:
- Proactivity is limited: With a larger agency, your team can often be stymied by process, which means a less nimble and agile approach to solving your business challenges.
- Limited access to senior team: “Pitch and switch” is a bugbear frequently cited by in-house marketers when appointing an agency. Working with a smaller agency, this is much less likely to happen, and you will typically have much more access to expert leaders for ongoing counsel.
- Feeling like a low priority: Nobody wants to be the biggest or the smallest fish in the pond. Working with a mid-size agency offers the best of both worlds – big picture thinking and commercial nous, with the right time and attention your brief deserves.
- Transactional relationships: It’s no secret that people and relationships are an agency’s most valuable asset, and working with an independent agency gives you access to people who are passionate and talented who bring true creative freedom and passion to what they do (and *whisper it* many of them are ex-network).