Is the pitch still how big accounts are won?
What changedOn WPP's third-quarter call on 29 October, chief executive Cindy Rose criticised the trend for accounts moving without a review, calling it a "CEO handshake" approach. She did not name a rival, but on 5 November Publicis sent an open letter, obtained by Adweek, calling the claim "an insult to clients' intelligence". The row comes as WPP reports net sales down 2.1% for the quarter (WPP).
Why it mattersWhen the two biggest groups argue in public about whether a pitch is needed, the formal review has stopped being the only door. The work that decides who gets the brief now happens months earlier: the relationship, the point of view the client already trusts, and the proof that the agency has done it before. An agency that only turns up when the RFP lands is arriving after the decision has half been made.
Clients say they want to pay for results
What changedIn a BCG and Google survey of 387 marketers, fielded in January 2026, 66% put outcome-based or performance-linked fees in their top three ways to pay partners, ahead of hybrid models (56%) and project fees (43%) (BCG and Google). The same study found 81% want partners who join up creative, media, earned and commerce, while fewer than half feel they have that today.
Why it mattersThe figure is ten months old, but it has become the backdrop to this autumn's pricing arguments. Paying for outcomes only works if the agency can track the outcome, agree it with the client up front and report on it every month. Most independents are not set up to do that yet, which makes measurement as much a new business question as a finance one.
Half of independent owners want to sell. Buyers are getting choosier
What changedEvros Group's 2026 M&A Sentiment Survey, published in August, found 51% of independent agency owners interested in selling and 78% of holding company and private equity-backed buyers actively looking. But not one strategic buyer rated this year's opportunities "very strong", and 62% of financial investors described their stance as "more selective". Sellers rated their own AI adoption at 3 out of 5. Valuation adviser FE International says most smaller agencies sell for 4x to 8x EBITDA, and that agencies with more than 60% of revenue on retainer typically command one to two turns more than project-based ones.
Why it mattersThere are more agencies for sale than good ones to buy. The gap gets closed by the same things clients are asking for: repeat revenue, a spread of clients, and a new business system that works without the founder in every meeting. An owner who might sell in three years is building that value, or losing it, in how they win and keep work today.
Stagwell's growth is coming from software
What changedStagwell's third-quarter results (29 October) showed net revenue up 8% to $664m, with its Marketing Cloud software arm up 108% organically and its digital transformation segment up 23%. Chief executive Mark Penn said software products "like our agentic Stagwell Machines" are driving the business "as we pivot from primarily marketing services to AI-powered marketing transformation". The group reported $168m of net new business in the quarter.
Why it mattersThe fastest-growing parts of a mid-sized holding company are the parts that do not sell hours. That sets an expectation clients will carry into every pitch: what does the agency own or run that keeps working between meetings? An independent does not need its own software arm, but it does need a clear answer.
Early numbers on ads inside AI chat are weak
What changedA working paper by Maximilian Kaiser and Christian Schulze (October 2026), covering 60 weeks of online shop data, found a paid ChatGPT ad visit earned $0.89 in US traffic against $2.45 for a paid Google search visit, and converted at 0.37% against 1.17%. The authors note the paper is still under review, and one of them advises the data provider.
Why it mattersClients are being asked to move budget into AI channels, and agencies are being asked to have a view. The first independent numbers suggest caution, which favours the agency that can test small, measure properly and tell a client plainly what is and is not working.
Each of these lands differently depending on how an agency wins work, how it charges and who it serves. Talking through which ones matter for yours, and in what order, is what the call is for.