I was quoted this morning in an article by Jack Marshall on Digiday about "The Most Digital Agency" (the answer: monster conglomerate WPP who just bought AKQA).

Here's what I said:

... Some suggest the holding company land grab that’s ensued over the past 10 years will ultimately result in a backlash, with clients forsaking their holding company partners in favor of smaller, more efficient and nimble partners.

“The irony is that the best agencies are no longer the biggest agencies,” said Adam Kleinberg, CEO of digital agency Traction. “That’s not where the flexibility is. That’s not where the efficiency is. And more and more, that’s not where the talent is.”

As clients begin to realize that fact, major agencies and holding companies could begin to see themselves hemorrhaging clients if they fail to figure out how to retain, or in some cases reignite, a culture of creativity and innovation as well as efficiencies, according to Forrester analyst Jim Nail.

But according to Kleinberg, the onus is really on the smaller agencies themselves at this point to force the issue. In reference to brands’ continued use of the major agencies, he said, “One of my clients in a moment of extreme candor said to me, ‘We’re going to keep doing this until you can convince us it’s not in our best interest.’”

The challenge small agencies face, however, is that the courting process for brands and agencies was designed with big in mind.

It's simple math:

Pitches are expensive for agencies. Responding to proposals takes a lot of time. Doing spec work takes a lot of time. Thinking about a problem takes a lot of time. 

All agencies know we can dedicate a certain amount of expense to pitches a year. The amount we can spend is some percentage of our revenue and profit.

X% of $100 million in revenue > X% of $10 million in revenue

Maybe I'm biased, but I think I run a pretty good agency. I will put my smart people in the ring against anybody else's smart people in this business.

But time? 

That's where small agencies are a distinct disadvantage in the pitch process and that's where brands often miss out. The smaller agencies can't devote the same time to onerous pitch requests as larger ones so they're at a disadvantage. And brands quite possibly miss out on the opportunity to work with the best partners to run their business because they couldn't invest as much time to win their business.

It doesn't have to be this way. I had a conversation with pitch consultant Russel Wohlwerth a few years back and he lamented that he tells his clients not to put agencies through all these hoops because 80% of decisions were made based on chemistry anyway. 

Of course, thems the breaks. 

As I told Jack, "the onus is really on the smaller agencies [ourselves] at this point to force the issue."

And we can. It's not easy, but we can present our ideas better. We can be thought leaders. We can differentiate ourselves.

We can even say 'no.'

I find that's the best way to force the issue of all.