A recent example of a LinkedIn search comes from Amruta V., Director of Marketing at De Soi posted around the beginning of April 2025. 1,266 reactions and 1,096 comments. Looks like non-tradtitional agency search is top-of-mind to brands and agencies alike.

An informative article from Ad Age by Lindsay Rittenhouse providing the pros and cons of non-traditional search.

Agency Search Services

Need a new agency? Want to add capabilities to your roster? Frustrated with the traditional agency search process? I’ve developed a faster, more effective way to find the right agency partner with a pragmatic, experience-driven approach designed for every over-scheduled marketing leader with compressed go-to-market schedules. The difference isn’t just speed but focus. Shorter timeframes force precision and eliminate the slog of overthinking to find, vet, and hire a new agency. Marketers who question the traditional agency search approach, reject the status quo, and veto legacy thinking have a fresh efficient agency search process. Yes you can find a new partner in less time, less cost, and less disruption. After all, you’ve got work to do.

Legacy Search is Good for Some

A handful of good agency search consultants have honed their approach from years of work and hundreds of happy clients. I can recommend one if you need it. They are the heroes of those who win the big budgets. They are typically marketers who work in large, distributed, multi-business units and multi-stakeholder conglomerates. They need the skills and expertise of these legacy search practices and can afford the time and expense required.

For others–startups, scale-ups, lean, agile, evolving, maturing, challenger brands–who don’t have the time or resources to avail themselves of the legacy consultants, another option is necessary, one that is faster and cheaper, an efficient agency search process.

Not Good for Others

Today’s marketing changemaker is a dynamic leader with the courage to break from the status quo—not just to talk about growth but to break down the barriers that restain it. This new CMO brings a fresh mindset, refusing to accept inefficiencies and constantly questioning the status quo. They are digital natives, tech-savvy, data-driven, and ever-vigilant about new business possibilities and missed opportunities. They are fine-tuned to drive growth and cost efficiencies. They don’t have time or patience for a long, drawn-out agency search process. They’d just as soon DIY than labor through months of analysis-paralysis and choose the best-rehearsed agency, all while market opportunities pass them by.

It may be for this reason that the traditional search consultant’s share of all agency searches has been in decline for over 10 years. Yes, some are doing better than others, but as a whole, the number of agency changes has increased while their share has decreased.

Emerging marketing leaders have shunned the status quo and taken on the search themselves. In doing so, they go looking in the channels they are most comfortable: AI & data-driven solutions, LinkedIn, Slack & Discord communities, X & Reddit, Agency search platforms, Freelancer and Creator hubs, Podcast and YouTube, and even reverse engineering ads they like to find the agencies behind them. Clever as they are, these marketers need help, too, a different kind of help. They need an agency veteran’s instincts, a marketing veteran’s empathy, an agency matchmaker’s experience, hands-on knowledge of the agency landscape, and the entrepreneurial spirit of a founder. They need someone to do their leg work, comfortable in all the channels, trusted to understand their needs, and broadly connected to share and recommend the best choices so they can keep their marketing momentum going.

Why Me?

40 years of agency experience on both the client and agency side. I’ve witnessed great client-agency relationships as well as lousy matchmaking and the results of both.

I’ve spent the last ten years compiling, analyzing, and engaging with agencies of all shapes and sizes, and matching them with great clients.

I’ve hired, fired, and managed large and small agency partnerships.

I’ve helped marketing decision-makers find and hire new partners.

I’ve developed a practical, pragmatic, and mission-focused worldview of agencies and marketers.

I have structured a fast, efficient agency search process to support today’s marketer’s needs, and the needs and agendas of other decision-makers and stakeholders in the process, and aligned best-fit agency choices for short- and long-term success. That’s the better way. I know how serious, disruptive, time-consuming, pain-in-the-ass agency search is. My goal is to make it painless in every way and for everyone.

I do not charge agencies to participate in a search nor require a subscription or membership to be eligible to participate. I do not allow any spec creative, strategy, or research during the process. Agencies are invited based on their alignment with the client’s needs.

Want to Know How I Do It?