Today’s guest is James Townsend — CEO EMEA at Stagwell and also CEO of their Brand Performance Network. Stagwell is now a multi-billion dollar challenger to the established agency HoldCo.s, so how are they approaching growth differently to their competitors? 

In a word: adaptation — by embracing the evolving needs of modern clients. James describes how Stagwell’s digital-first structure aims to be the ‘Goldilocks’ of holding companies — that ‘just right’ size between up-scale indies and the more established HoldCo.s. 

He talks about combining creatives, strategists and over 1,500 engineers to focus on solving real-world client problems. And he’s got strong views on why some agencies get stuck in the past and how to avoid it.

James also shares how Stagwell approached performance-based pricing, what he’s learnt from rivals like Publicis and Accenture, as well as how they cultivate their entrepreneurial spirit while scaling globally.

HIGHLIGHTS 

[01:55] Building a ‘just-right’ sized agency

[06:30] Choosing your clients

[08:06] Listening to the market

[11:21] Learning from mistakes

[16:49] Changing how agencies get paid

[21:44] Client-centricity in practice

[22:37] The importance of traditional account handling

[24:11] Learning from the big players

[26:23] Focusing on business outcomes

[30:48] Reasons to be optimistic