How to Respect & Continue Nourishing Your Trusted Agency Partnerships in the AI Era
AI can now handle tasks that agencies once charged premium rates for. But smart CMOs aren't throwing away decades-old partnerships - they're evolving them. Find out how from John Turner & The Optimisation Advisory
🤝 How to Respect and Continue Nourishing Your Trusted Agency Partnerships in the AI Era
The Challenge:
AI can now handle tasks that agencies once charged premium rates for.
But smart CMOs aren't throwing away decades-old partnerships - they're evolving them.
The Opportunity:
Redirect your agency's minds toward higher-value work while using AI to handle the routine heavy lifting.
What AI Can Take Off Your Agency's Plate 🤖 Consider what work could be in-housed and delivered through AI
Such as Content Production Tasks and Campaign Operations:
> To find out more specific ideas to drive efficiency and create cost savings please contact John Turner
How to Elevate Your Agency Partnership 📈
1. Redefine the Retainer Conversation
> Instead of: Can you reduce your fees because AI does some of this now?"
> Try : "Let's reallocate say 20-30% of operational support & production time toward strategic thinking > what would that unlock and let’s track it?"
2. Set up a new project resourcing model recognising roles / input of AI
> Link this to a performance-based remuneration (PBR) and a tiered bonus system that can reward your agency partner with higher profitability for great thinking, service and work that helps achieves your business targets
Establish clear and measurable age
3 . Create New Value Territories
4. Establish Clear AI-Human Boundaries that the agency or in-house teams owns:
5. Invest in Up-skilling Together
- Co-create AI prompting guidelines that maintain brand standards
- Joint training sessions on AI tools that enhance creativity
- Shared measurement frameworks for hybrid human-AI campaigns
> To find out more specific ideas to maintain a strong relationships yet drive efficiency and create cost savings please contact John Turner
💪 The Trust-Building Framework
Transparency First: Share your AI experiments openly > agencies respect this
Value Recognition: Acknowledge when insights drive better AI outputs
Future Planning: Include agencies in your AI roadmap not after decisions are made
Fair Compensation: Pay fairly for strategic thinking, innovation, creative excellence and execution
The Winning Mindset Shift
Old Model:
Agency produces everything
New Model:
On defined scope and tasks AI produces drafts
→ Agency adds strategic polish
-> Agency continues to be your trusted advisor, creates brand platform & core creative ideas plus execute these in key channels
→ CMO and Agency Partners Co-Optimise
Bottom Line:
Your best agencies want to evolve with you, not compete against AI.
The ones that resist will be left behind.
--> The agencies that embrace this hybrid model will become even more valuable partners.
--> Give them the space to do what humans do best - think strategically, connect emotionally, and solve complex problems creatively.
How are you navigating this transition while keeping the relationship strong?
📞 Ready to Optimise your agency arrangements or in-house some services?
Contact John to discuss how reorganising your arrangements and the role of AI can help produce better work and Maximise the Value from Your Marketing Budget
