Today’s guests are Brian Wieser and Olivia Morley – not only the co-hosts of the fantastic ‘Agency Business’ podcast, but Brian is also a seasoned analyst across advertising, tech and finance, and Olivia is an editorial and communications specialist, formerly of Adweek and Forrester. Together, they bring an unusually rigorous focus to the choices agency leaders make.
We explore why the sector is not, despite the prevailing narrative, in crisis – and why metrics such as capital efficiency and long-term value creation are often overlooked. Olivia offers a critical perspective on organisational structure, culture, and operational reality, while Brian unpacks how agencies should think about investment, scale and survival.
We also dig into whether independents are truly ‘having a moment, the divergence between media and creative businesses, and why holding companies are describing themselves as platforms.
HIGHLIGHTS:
[01:58] Inside agency journalism
[03:58] The business of agencies
[07:12] Curiosity behind decisions
[12:54] Investing wisely
[16:52] Facts over feelings
[21:22] Pseudo independence
[24:38] Media scale versus creativity
[26:53] Agencies as platforms
[31:04] Technology drives consolidation
[37:54] Specialisation as strategy
