What the rise of independent agencies tells us about the current industry landscape

By Zoë Baptie, Associate Director - Head of Tech Practice

There’s one theme that seems to be running through many of the new business conversations I’ve been having lately: "How do we get in front of the independent agencies?” When you break this down, the appetite for the indies stems from brands seeking greater transparency in their media buys. 

This year alone, we have seen the network agencies undergo a flux of acquiring, merging, consolidating, and investing, struggling to keep up with the shifting client needs. In the meantime, the independent agencies have been diversifying, partnering, and innovating to provide a more agile, personalised and transparent offering. 

The evolving agency landscape

At the end of 2024, IAB Europe stated that the agency model was being repositioned to a centralised data media activation and creative execution platform. And then boom, right at the start of 2025, Omnicom Group confirmed the takeover of rival holding company Interpublic Group (IPG). 

Following this merger, the two businesses will form the world's largest advertising group. Not only this, but it will also be able to provide clients with highly complementary data and technology platforms in a bid to drive growth. 

The disruption at the top didn’t end here either. After 30 years, Mark Read announced he’s stepping down as CEO of agency giant WPP due to its struggles against the rise of AI and with company shares at their lowest in five years. As the business looked to reposition itself, it sent a clear message with the appointment of Cindy Rose, who has a background in Tech and AI leadership, that emerging technologies are where the priorities must lie to be able to cut production costs and optimise performance. 

The indie boom

Meanwhile, agile, independent agencies have been booming, with a combined £26.7 billion turnover. With the ability to offer faster turnarounds and customer strategies, technology has played its part in levelling the playing field so that small agencies can compete with larger rivals. 

What’s more, earlier this year the Alliance of Independent Agencies (AIA) and the Land of Independent collaborated to launch an initiative aimed at sharing knowledge and support for independent media agencies. The aim has been to help the indie media agency community flourish, provide advertisers with real choice, and counter the “17 shades of vanilla” served by the networks. 

Recent research has quantified this theory, revealing that 90% of UK indies are already collaborating with other agencies, thereby shifting away from the traditional holding group model. As such, indie agencies are now rightfully earning their seat at the top of the table by creating a differentiation from the big networks.

The knock-on effect

As the networks focus on automation, scale, and buying businesses to expand their offerings (while killing off the competition), indie agencies are building loyalty, trust, and reputation that provide partners with greater control, transparency, and efficiency. As this apparent, but gentle uprising, is reflected across the ecosystem, it’s no wonder adtech participants want to cosy up to the independents.