Agency Search & Selection
We help you evaluate multi-agency holdco pitches before you sign.
When a review is on the table, you get an independent read — not the roster your incumbent’s champion happens to prefer.
Submissions from Big Six holdcos often bundle multiple owned agencies under one proposal. We help you evaluate the subject-matter specifics of each and surface the revenue recapture opportunities before you sign.
We advise you through the negotiation — you and your team hold the pen and the seat at the table.
The Big Six’s share of U.S. ad spending: 44.6% in 2019 → 29.6% today.
EMARKETER[1]
Solutions for You
Subject-matter specific advice.
Evaluating responses across multiple holdco and agency proposals as part of a genuine agency search and selection process — not just the top-line pitch.
Sniff out margin inflation.
Surface revenue recapture opportunities inside the proposed terms before you commit to them.
On your side. Every time.
Advising you through the negotiation itself — briefing you on what to ask for and why, without negotiating on your behalf.
The market’s more open than it looks
Defaulting to the incumbent’s recommended roster feels efficient. It’s also based on a picture of the market that’s a few years out of date. The Big Six’s share of U.S. ad spending has fallen from 44.6% in 2019 to 29.6% today[1] — independent and specialist alternatives are taking a real, growing share of the work that used to default to a holdco name. A genuine search costs more time up front than accepting the incumbent’s shortlist. It also means the roster you end up with reflects the market as it actually is, not as it was when your current agency relationship started.
A note on role: We don’t write your RFP or sit across the table in your place. The process and the decision stay yours — what we add is an independent, subject-matter read at the point where it’s easiest to miss something.
They evaluate the subject-matter specifics of holdco and agency RFP responses, help the client identify revenue recapture opportunities before signing, and advise the client through the negotiation — without designing the RFP or negotiating on the client’s behalf. The client’s team leads the process; the advisor is paid by the client, never the agency.
A new CMO inheriting a contract they didn’t negotiate, a board question about marketing ROI, relationship underperformance, or your own internal procurement review cycle.
Sources Cited
- EMARKETER, “FAQ on ad agencies: Consolidation, AI disruption, and what’s changing in 2026″ (Jan. 22, 2026)
