As the industry becomes younger and holding companies consolidate, how do you choose an agency? Art of the Possible’s Adam Brami has some suggestions.
After a decade of pressure, 2025 might have been the tipping point for marketing. Economic uncertainty and geopolitical instability dented confidence. As budgets tighten, generative AI is reshaping the industry – automating tasks juniors used to cut their teeth on. It’s forcing agencies to rethink how they deliver work.
Marketing teams must do more with less, while holding company networks double down. Omnicom’s US$13 billion acquisition of IPG will leave four of New Zealand’s five biggest agency brands under the same global roof. In a small, already concentrated market, that kind of consolidation hits harder.
Marketers aren’t just asking how to get their brand chosen over another, but who to partner with to make it happen. Is there a smarter way to tap external expertise?
The roof no longer fits
The traditional agency model is built on a singular premise: the best minds under one roof. But that roof is looking increasingly irrelevant.
It fitted an era of fewer channels, slower cycles and predictable spending rhythms. No wonder it’s under strain. Marketers are questioning the return on their investment, and while the model still works for some, many brands need less theatre and more traction.
Talent crunch at both ends
The challenges are also human. The industry has become younger, by design. As holding companies shift toward junior-heavy teams to protect margins, senior staff are often viewed not as strategic stabilisers but financial liabilities. And those over 45 – once the wise heads guiding entire departments – are disappearing.
About 35% of public service workers are 50 and over, while 41% of the wider workforce is 45+. But just 21% of advertising professionals are in that age bracket. Only 6% of marketing roles are held by the over 55s. Experienced voices have become rare in our industry.
With AI automation, entry-level jobs are evaporating. At the same time, traditional agencies struggle to justify the cost of senior talent while still delivering shareholder returns. They’re closing the door to juniors, and pushing out seniors just as they hit their peak.
A model purpose-built for now
But a different model is gaining traction.
Across Australasia, newer players including Art of the Possible, Game Creative and Virtual Marketers are assembling custom teams per project. This set-up puts outcome above overhead. It wraps experienced talent around the brief, not an office structure.
These aren’t experimental ideas. Assignment Group and Consortium – both founded by respected ex-holding group agency New Zealand execs – successfully ran similar models in a previous era. Both firms have since been folded into other entities or closed, but they showed how a modular, senior-first set-up could deliver faster, higher-level work.
Today, remote collaboration, flexible work cultures and growing comfort with project-based engagement make this streamlined version ready to scale. On top of that, many of the industry’s best minds are working fractionally – often delivering more value than they ever did within the system. In short: the conditions have finally caught up with the idea.
What clients are really asking
Most businesses don’t want an agency, they want a commercial outcome: to get chosen more often.
Clients are asking:
- Who’s actually working on my business?
- Are they experts in my category?
- Why am I paying for anything that doesn’t directly affect the outcome?
Fran Bellingham, founder of Virtual Marketers, sees this daily: “Clients are done with unnecessary layers. They want fast access to the right capability, embedded where it makes sense. That’s where fractional resourcing and blended teams shine.”
Jodine Banks, a senior marketing leader and head of marketing at HQ Travel Group, is an advocate for the modular agency. She says: “The value of an agency really depends on your business requirements. Long-standing relationships can be brilliant – when an agency knows your business as well as you do, that continuity is powerful.
“But for many, the desire for fresh ideas can mean changing agencies, which often disrupts day-to-day momentum. What I’ve needed in the past wasn’t more ideas – it was smarter execution from people with genuine expertise in our space. Working this way gave us speed, relevance and greater control over investment.”
Why it matters now
These emerging models are more affordable and more accountable. They cast for fit and offer project-based pricing. And they are led by seasoned marketers who can navigate complex challenges without adding layers of process or politics.
That shift from volume to value is everything.
A recent study indicated 82% of New Zealand businesses would consider partnering with a lesser-known, independent model if it delivered the same quality at lower cost. This willingness to trade brand-name familiarity for proven ROI underlines how ready the market is for smarter, senior-led alternatives.
The opportunity ahead
It’s time for the industry to rethink how we structure capability. Holding company networks will continue to consolidate. AI will keep automating tasks. And clients will remain pressured to do more with less.
Whether it’s embedding fractional experts into internal teams (as Virtual Marketers has done) or assembling custom strike squads for specific category requirements (as Art of the Possible does), the models now exist to meet the moment.
In Australia, Game Creative – founded by industry leader Dan Beaumont – is showing how fast this approach can scale.
“We’ve been amazed at how quickly clients have embraced this way of working,” says Beaumont. “They want to work directly with senior people without layers and associated costs – and the momentum we’re seeing proves the appetite for a leaner, smarter model.”
For a long time, the industry mantra was: “No one ever got fired for hiring <big agency name>.”
But in 2026, the smartest move might be asking: is there a better way?
This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 85, Dec 2025-Feb 2026. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
Essential marketing intelligence. Don’t miss it.
