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New research from Funnel spells out themounting hazards facing marketing agencies,plus hidden opportunities to turn disruptioninto innovation and growth. AgencyAcceleration Table of contents 1. The optimism gap2. Agency report card3. Next-horizon measurement4. A golden opportunity5. Vision 2030 About the research Funnel surveyed 327 in-house marketing pro-fessionals and agency leaders globally. We alsointerviewed nearly a dozen agency leaders fromhigh-performing, data-savvy shops in the U.S.and Europe. Our goal was to understand theunique challenges facing agencies, as well as howhigh-performing agency teams are innovating andout-competing the market. The research wasmanaged by a third-party partner, Ravn Research,and sponsored by Funnel. The optimism gap Marketers signal they may replace their agencies with AI-driven tech,but agencies appear unconcerned. Marketing agencies face a serioustriple threat: 1. Pressure from regulators and Big Tech:Cross-device and web tracking was always a contentiousissue in marketing. With new and continued pressurefrom regulatory bodies and Big Tech — such as thesunsetting of third-party cookies and iOS updates thatemphasize user privacy — companies now face evengreater challenges in profiling individual consumersand assigning objective value to paid media channels.All of this will have lasting effects on marketers’ long-term strategic goals. 3. Changing perceptions about ‘value’:AI and auto-mation tools are being used by marketers andagencies alike to augment human work in areas likeSEO, video editing, content generation, campaignoptimization and targeting. In the short term, thesechanges are driving workflow efficiencies, but in thelong term, these tools may erode some revenuesources for agencies and destabilize the marketer/agency relationship. Funnel surveyed both in-house marketers and agencyprofessionals to find out what the future holds for themodern marketing agency in the face of these criticalpressures. How can these agencies continue to providevalue and even thrive? 2. A shortage of advanced analytics skills:Companieslike Meta will struggle to effectively target users due todata loss, limiting agencies’ ability to attribute objec-tive success (e.g., post-click attribution). These chang-es will push agencies toward more statistical methods,like marketing mix modeling (MMM), which requiredata skills many agencies do not currently possess.These methods may also be too advanced for manyagency clients to understand and invest in. How do agencies prove their value? “Everyone says, ‘We’re data-driven.’ They believe that just because they’redownloading some data, sticking it in Excel and making pivot tables thatmakes them data-driven. But a lot of marketing spend is like handing out freepizza vouchers to people who are already in a queue for a pizza place. Sure,they have a one hundred percent conversion rate, but it’s because peoplewould’ve come there anyway.” Julian ModianoCo-Founder & CEOAcuto Despite these negative signals from in-housemarketers, agencies do not yet appear to be alarmed.In fact, most are predicting rising fortunes. Financialcondition, they say, is on the upswing. Two in threeagency professionals expect their financial conditionwill improve over the next 12 months. And agencyprofessionals largely believe AI will have a net positiveimpact on their business. Are agencies overconfidentabout the future? Two AI story arcs Hearing in-house marketers and agencies describe thefuture, one wonders if they’re talking about the sameindustry. The vast majority of agencies we surveyed do not view“in-housing” (i.e., marketers bringing agency workback in-house) as a near and present danger. Just 23%view in-housing as a major or extreme threat. A significant share of in-house marketers say AI willinvariably affect their agency relationships. In fact,43% say AI will make their company less dependent onagencies — roughly 6x the rate of those who say theywill be more dependent on agencies due to AI. If nothing else, this gulf between marketers andagencies points to a tremendous amount of optimismabout how AI will wind its way through the stages ofthe customer journey and the connected parts ofmarketing operations. This outlook may already be affecting spending. Threein four in-house marketers report that outsourcingrates at their company are projected to remain flat orfall during the next 12 months. Marketers say...Marketers say...Marketers say... Agencies say...Agencies say...Agencies say... In-housing is a majoror extreme threat AI will make our companyless dependent on agencies Outsourcing rates forthe next 12 months atour company will remainflat or fall Our agency’s financialcondition will improveover the next 12 months The agency report card How do marketers feel about their agency relationships?There’s lots of room for improvement. The future of marketing depends on moresophisticated measurement models and massiveamounts of data spread