The evolving role of media agencies in Canada: from media buying to strategic orchestration
This article reflects themes and observations discussed among CMA Media Council members and captures shared perspectives on how the role of Canadian media agencies is changing. This is Part 1 of a two-part blog series.
The Canadian media landscape is undergoing one of its most consequential shifts in decades. Flat revenue growth, intensified platform dominance, rapid AI acceleration, and evolving marketer expectations are forcing agencies to fundamentally re-examine the value they bring to brands. The longstanding model built on media buying, rate negotiation, and volume-based efficiencies is no longer sufficient in a market where Google, Meta, and self-serve platforms command the lion’s share of digital investment.
The CMA Media Council’s November meeting explored these shifts through the lens of industry leaders across holding companies (holdcos), independents, brand teams and technology partners. What emerged was a clear picture of an industry in transition, and a roadmap for how Canadian agencies can redefine their value in a highly fragmented ecosystem.
Read on to learn about areas of focus from the discussion.
Flat growth and fragmentation are rewriting the agency value proposition
Canadian agency revenues have declined gently but consistently over the past five years, dropping by 0.7 per cent annually, with forecasts from 2024 showing continued stagnation through 2025. Growth is increasingly captured by global platforms and programmatic tools rather than agency intermediaries.
In this environment, clients no longer see agencies as media brokers. They expect integrated solutions that combine strategy, data fluency, cultural insight and creativity. Questions once peripheral have become central:
- How is consumer behaviour shifting across fragmented platforms?
- How do we deliver relevance when media, content and commerce are converging?
Despite these evolving expectations, many agencies remain boxed into procurement-led pricing models that prioritize cost over strategic value. Traditional RFP processes still anchor compensation around two to five per cent fees, even when clients increasingly want capabilities that resemble consultancy-level expertise, which typically commands 15 to 20 per cent.
Some encouraging progress is emerging. We’re seeing a shift toward evaluating strategic fit rather than solely cost. As several Council members emphasized, this progress requires active CMO engagement to counterbalance procurement’s historical influence. Without senior client-side sponsorship, agencies remain trapped in a model that undervalues their highest-value contributions.
The consultancy pivot: agencies must lead with strategy, not media buying
To move beyond legacy margin pressures, agencies are increasingly embracing a consultancy-first mindset. This pivot is happening across the spectrum, but in different ways.
Holdcos continue to offer the scale and embedded expertise that many brands rely on, including access to large consultative units and integrated data and technology teams. But staffing challenges often mean that junior practitioners manage multimillion-dollar accounts, limiting the senior thinking required for complex strategic problems.
Independent agencies, by contrast, are growing by leaning into agility, senior talent and a strategy-first orientation. Their approach resonates with marketers who want experienced leaders directly engaged in their business, not just automated outputs or templated planning.
Both models highlight the same reality: the agency of the future must be expert-led, insight-driven, and organizationally designed for strategic depth. Clients today expect partners who can interpret uncertainty, navigate platform bias, integrate fragmented data sources, and lead cross-functional thinking across brand, media, channel and content.
This is not a “nice to have” evolution; it is existential. Agencies that remain anchored to legacy buying-centric models will struggle to compete in a world where much of the tactical work is automated.
AI and automation are changing agency operations, talent models and client expectations
AI adoption is accelerating rapidly across global agencies. Over 60 per cent now use some form of machine learning for optimization in campaign delivery, and creative AI tools are producing high-quality variations at an almost negligible marginal cost.
During our discussion, several themes emerged:
1. AI is expected to enhance value, not inflate costs
Clients are not willing to pay more simply because AI is being used. Instead, they expect faster outputs, more efficient processes and improved performance. AI should elevate the work, not add layers of complexity.
2. Human oversight continues to be non-negotiable
AI introduces new risks such as platform-specific bias, unclear attribution methodologies, and legal considerations around creative originality. Agencies must help clients interpret these outputs, apply judgment, and guard against over-reliance on “black box” systems.
3. AI has broken the traditional talent flywheel
Automation is replacing many entry-level analytical tasks, shrinking the pipeline of junior roles that once served as foundational training grounds. As one member noted, agencies are now hiring for senior expertise while simultaneously losing the developmental layers that once created it.
4. AI is a force multiplier when paired with strategy
Examples from the discussion included attribution-informed bidding, dynamic creative versioning and real-time lead scoring—all of which delivered measurable outcomes. One agency example cited a 30 per cent lift in lead generation ROI when AI-enabled creative versioning was combined with rigorous testing.
The opportunity is not simply to adopt AI, but to integrate it strategically and ethically, with agencies carrying responsibility for education, governance frameworks and transparent communication.
Agencies as technology orchestrators: the new strategic battleground
The modern marketing organization operates across a tech stack that can include more than 20 platforms spanning data, automation, CRM, measurement and media. Rather than expecting agencies to own every tool, clients increasingly need them to orchestrate the ecosystem, integrate disparate systems and provide neutral oversight.
This shift is being driven by several realities:
1. Platform dominance limits transparency
When so much of the media supply chain is controlled by global platforms, agencies must help marketers evaluate attribution, understand bias, and design governance structures that go beyond tool-level reporting.
2. Tool adoption remains inconsistent
Agencies often invest heavily in proprietary tools for RFP purposes, yet planners still default to spreadsheets. Clients face similar challenges internally, with many purchasing technology that is underutilized or siloed.
3. Speed pressures drive hybrid models
Some brands bypass agencies for urgent in-platform needs, while still relying on them for strategic planning or brand-building work. This creates fragmented responsibilities unless agencies provide connective tissue across the full funnel.
4. Smaller agencies struggle with access to expensive tech
A shared cost network model was discussed as a potential way to give smaller shops access to high-value research tools at sustainable price points.
The future agency is not one that competes with platforms on technology. It is one that integrates platforms, aligns them to business goals, and applies human judgment to an increasingly automated ecosystem.
The pricing and partnership models of the future
As AI increases efficiency and automation continues to take over tactical work, pricing models must evolve. Performance-based fees are gaining traction globally, linking compensation more directly to business outcomes. Yet these models risk blurring accountability across creative, media and client-side teams, making governance essential.
Principal buying is also emerging as a major revenue driver for holdcos, while value-based pricing remains limited by procurement structures built on legacy commission models.
Council members agreed that the most effective model is one where pricing reflects real strategic value, not media volume. However, this requires the following:
- Stronger CMO involvement,
- Clearer performance frameworks,
- More transparent measurement, and
- Shared accountability across all partners.
Without these, pricing innovation will continue to stall at the margins.
Conclusion: agencies are moving from intermediaries to integrators
The role of Canadian media agencies is being redefined in real time. The winners will be those who evolve from media buyers to:
- Strategic advisors who help brands navigate uncertainty,
- Technology orchestrators who integrate complex ecosystems,
- AI-enabled experts who pair automation with judgment, and
Consultancy-level partners who elevate marketing’s business impact.
The future is less about scale and more about strategic value. It is less about intermediating buys and more about integrating teams, tools and platforms. It is less about answering briefs, and more about shaping them.
As the CMA Media Council continues to explore this topic, one truth remains clear: agencies that embrace this evolution will shape not only their own growth potential, but the trajectory of Canadian marketing itself.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series on the evolving role of media agencies.
Authors:
Allie Diep, Agency Development Lead, LinkedIn Technology Canada Inc.
Fiona Karl, Director, Growth Marketing, Sun Life Financial
