Rebuilding Client–Agency Trust in the AI Era
Another sharp perspective from Michael Farmer on why many client–agency relationships feel strained—and what it will take to rebuild them. You can read the entire article at link below:
A couple of his recommendations stood out:
What if advertisers and agencies worked hand in glove to solve brand growth challenges—using #AI to strengthen strategic research? AI can help agencies become more consultative, much like firms such as Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and McKinsey & Company, by turning data into deeper strategic insight.
That’s exactly the direction the industry is heading.
But tools alone won’t get you there. The real opportunity is combining AI capability with experienced strategic thinking.
If you’re thinking about how to make your agency—or your marketing organization—more consultative and insight-driven, it’s worth taking a look at what Emma Cochrane and Jess Lin at Atmos Partners are building.
They’ve created a compelling model that blends human expertise with AI-powered insight in a very practical way.
Use Procurement to eliminate the sources of relationship inefficiency (poor briefing and ad approval processes) instead of fee reductions?
Too often, procurement is brought in to negotiate cost.
But the bigger opportunity is to address the root causes of wasted time and frustration—poor briefs, unclear approval processes, shifting scopes, and inefficient workflows.
Those are the issues that quietly erode productivity, inflate costs, and strain relationships on both sides.
When procurement partners with marketing and agencies to streamline briefing, clarify decision rights, and simplify approval paths, the impact is immediate: faster work, fewer revisions, better outcomes—and ultimately, better value.
If procurement is only focused on price, you may be solving the wrong problem. If it’s focused on process, you start unlocking real performance.
And if this is a challenge your organization is facing, feel free to reach out to me at mitchell@agencyappraisal.com. This is exactly the kind of issue I help marketing and procurement teams diagnose and fix—before it turns into bigger performance or relationship problems.