How agencies are finding power in the middle as independent networks reshape the market

"Agencyland has long been thought of as a two-tier system. Over here, you have your 'networks,' typified by giant global holding companies such as WPP and its myriad sub-brands. And over there, you have 'independents' (the very best of which you'll find in our Indie Agency 100 list): shops with no links to those networks, owned by themselves or their founders and calling their own shots."

"But over the last decade, the neatness of that distinction has been eroded by an influx of investment into former indies, financial pressures on the industry and the quiet rise of organizational structures - partnerships, affiliations, co-operatives - that don't fit into the dichotomy. The result? An agencyland midmarket with a wide array of commercial models but one thing in common: confidence that the marketing world is primed for new ways of doing things."

The advertising industry historically featured a two-tier system of global holding networks and independent agencies. Over the last decade, investment into former independents, financial pressures, and the rise of partnerships, affiliations and co-operatives have blurred that distinction. A midmarket has emerged with a wide array of commercial models united by confidence that marketing is ready for new approaches. Major holding companies and consultancies still dominate by scale and employ many marketers. Independents account for 99% of agencies in the UK and 88% of the workforce.

Read at The Drum