Brands: Why Your Agency Will Never Give You What You Really Want

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, an uncomfortable truth demands acknowledgment: your agency will never fully embrace the transformative power of AI and automation. Not because they can't, but because they won't. The metaphor of "turkeys voting for Thanksgiving" has never been more apt.

The Existential Threat

The math is simple and brutal: AI-powered content production platforms can reduce adaptation costs by up to 80% while increasing speed 3-10x. For agencies whose profit models depend on armies of humans pushing pixels around screens, that's not an opportunity – it's an extinction-level event.

When your agency's revenue relies on marking up human hours by 40-100%, how can they genuinely advocate for technologies that could eliminate 70% of those hours? They can't, and they won't.

The Art of Active Resistance: Real-World Examples

The resistance isn't theoretical – it's happening right now, in sophisticated ways that actually increase costs while appearing to embrace innovation. Through our work with global brands, we've documented several patterns of agency resistance:

Case Study 1: The Parallel Process Paradox

A global CPG brand implemented an AI-powered content automation platform designed to streamline adaptation across 30 markets. The agency's response? They created a parallel workflow that:

• Completed all adaptations manually first ("best practice")
• Ran everything through the AI tool as a "verification step"
• Manually reviewed and adjusted all AI outputs
• Billed for both the manual work AND the "AI oversight"

Result: A process that should have reduced costs by 60% ended up increasing them by 20%.

Case Study 2: The Integration Illusion

Working with another major CPG company, we uncovered how their agency had effectively neutralised a state-of-the-art dynamic content optimisation platform by:

• Creating new "pre-optimization" workflows requiring multiple review rounds
• Maintaining traditional trafficking processes alongside the automated system
• Adding new "coordination" roles to "manage" the integration
• Turning a potential 50% timeline reduction into a bureaucratic quagmire

Following the Money: The Brutal Economics

To understand why agencies resist true transformation, you have to follow the money. Imagine a production assembly line stretched across continents, powered by armies of workers in offshore centres. The economics of this model are staggering:

60-70% of a content agency's revenue comes from production and adaptation work.

A single global client’s adaptation needs can sustain entire teams, often numbering in the hundreds.

Each offshore hour of labour, costing as little as $20, is marked up by 50-200% when billed to the brand.

For a global agency network, this isn’t just a workflow—it’s a cornerstone of their business model. A typical brand spending ￡50M a year on content production could be unwittingly paying ￡15-20M in unnecessary costs, hidden within the layers of inefficiency.

Now, imagine the existential threat that AI poses to this model. With the ability to automate up to 70% of repetitive tasks, AI doesn’t just reduce costs—it dismantles the very foundation of agency profitability.

Here’s the brutal truth: agencies aren't incentivised to make your production process faster or cheaper. Their success relies on keeping the assembly line moving, even if it's powered by outdated workflows that benefit them more than you.

As one executive candidly admitted to us, “Automation means we’d have to rewrite our P&L. That’s not a conversation we’re ready to have.”

The result? Agencies don’t just resist automation—they often weaponise it, turning tools meant to drive efficiency into justifications for increased costs.

This is why the future belongs to brands that take control, build their own ecosystems, and align their production processes with partners who thrive on efficiency—not complexity.

Breaking Free: Strategic Options

Based on our experience, successful brands typically pursue one of three paths:

1. Strategic In-Housing

Building internal capabilities with direct ownership of technology and data. We've helped multiple global brands achieve 40-60% cost savings through this approach while increasing speed to market.

2. Hybrid Models

Creating flexible partnerships with specialized providers who are incentivized to drive efficiency. Our hybrid model implementations typically deliver:

• 30-50% reduction in production costs
• 2-3x faster turnaround times
• Improved creative quality through better technology integration

3. Technology-First Partnerships

Directly engaging with emerging tech platforms while maintaining agencies for strategic and creative leadership. We help brands:

• Select and implement the right technology stack
• Design effective workflows
• Ensure seamless integration with existing systems

The Arloesi Transformation Approach

Through our work helping brands navigate these challenges, we've developed a proven methodology for breaking free from inefficient agency models:

• Supply Chain Mapping: We conduct a comprehensive analysis of your current content production processes, identifying points of friction and inefficiency.
• AI Integration Strategy: Unlike agencies that resist automation, we help brands implement AI tools and emerging tech in ways that actually deliver their promised benefits. Our recent work with a leading CPG brand achieved: 50% reduction in content production time; 40% productivity increase; 30% improvement in content performance; and Maintained brand consistency across all channels
• Transformation Support: We guide brands through the complex process of: Building internal capabilities; Implementing effective governance frameworks; Training teams on AI-powered workflows; and Managing change across stakeholder groups

The Path Forward

This isn't about demonizing agencies – they're simply protecting their business model, as any company would. But brands must recognize:

1. Your agency's first priority is their shareholders, not your efficiency
2. The larger the agency, the more they have invested in traditional models
3. True transformation requires partners whose success aligns with your efficiency goals

The Choice Ahead

The future belongs to brands that build or access integrated ecosystems combining:

• AI-powered content production platforms
• Advanced analytics and optimization tools
• Streamlined approval and deployment processes
• Direct ownership of first-party data and technology

Take Control of Your Future Today

The turkeys won’t vote for Thanksgiving, and your agency won’t lead the charge to revolutionise your content ecosystem. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck. With Arloesi as your transformation partner, you can:

• Slash inefficiencies by up to 50%
• Implement AI-driven workflows that deliver on their promise
• Build the production model of the future, today

Let’s map your path to a streamlined, AI-powered production ecosystem. Contact Arloesi now for a consultation and discover how we can help future-proof your brand’s content operations.