New Study: Briefing Quality, Trust, and Feedback Drive Agency Performance More Than Compensation
A joint study by Agency Mania Solutions and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) found that clear briefings, respect, and feedback are the strongest drivers of agency performance, outweighing compensation models.
Bruno Gralpois, Co-Founder and Principal of Agency Mania Solutions, will present findings from a new joint research report with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) at the WFA Forum Connect in New York on September 29. The report, "How Brands Define, Scope and Reward Agency Work," examines the commercial lifecycle between brands and their agencies, challenging the industry's long-standing emphasis on compensation as the primary driver of agency performance.
The research, surveying 71 global brands, identified clear briefing, respect and trust, and high-quality feedback as the top three contributors to agency performance, all scoring significantly higher than financial incentives. The study also revealed that while client-agency relationships are lasting longer, 36% of clients find managing these relationships has become more difficult over the past year.
Despite the accelerating impact of AI on agency operations, only 20% of brands have begun adapting their commercial models, though 61% intend to. Gralpois emphasized that commercial models alone do not fix collaboration issues. "A commercial model can't fix a poor brief, compensate for weak collaboration, or create trust where it's missing," he stated.
The findings are based on a survey conducted in June 2026. The report builds on WFA's ongoing work to shift marketing procurement's focus towards business value. The WFA Forum Connect event brings together marketing and procurement leaders to discuss enhancing marketing effectiveness.