Media agency models are stuck in the past.

Only 11% of brand marketers believe their media agency “aligns well to my future requirements”.

Digital media investment has dominated brands’ media budgets for over twenty years, marking the onset of a tech revolution.

Technical agility is now a top priority in media agency relationships, overshadowing buying clout.

As brands in-house and prioritise first-party data and automated platforms, a gap has emerged between brands' needs and media agencies’ capabilities.

Long term, this shift may fundamentally restructure the industry.

But are the holding groups too large to change?

As size increases, the ability to pivot decreases.

Phase transitions are required for structural reorganisation and adaptation to new markets.

I recently found an analogy that I feel describes the current state of advertising holding groups.

Imagine a large bathtub filled with water. Hit the surface with a hammer: a splash, and the hammer slips through the liquid. Then lower the temperature until the water freezes. Strike again, and the surface barely moves. The same molecule behaves like a liquid in one context and a rigid solid in another.

As the temperature decreases, binding forces get stronger, meaning there's no room for movement between molecules.

As teams and companies grow larger, everyone's stakes in driving outcomes grow lower, with too many layers, processes, and inefficiencies to move fluidly and cause disruption.

The holding groups owns hundreds of companies through acquisitions, but there is a legacy in each of those hundreds of different companies that were made to compete with each other, not work together, that is now out of control to the point where they are dysfunctional.

While I can't speak for brand marketers, research shows they want simplification, integration, and flexibility.

They need to be able to connect with their customers on multiple channels and platforms, in a media landscape that is changing drastically.

A recent study showed that 70% of advertising campaigns failed to generate a meaningful ROI. This doesn't mean that advertising isn't profitable. It just means there's a lot of work to be done to up the standard.

Media agencies are no longer just about media buying, they are about tech, data, analytics, insights, and creativity. Media, technology and creativity must come together in harmony to meet consumer needs and to drive effectiveness in the ever-changing digital world.

Agencies need to accelerate growth for brands, just like venture capital and private equity firms do but do it with technology and creativity rather than through financial engineering.

Agencies need a shift from brand stewards to growth catalysts.

It's not about pumping out ads and campaigns.

It's about identifying growth opportunities, designing solutions, and using tech and creativity to make them happen faster.