Why the Agency Model Is Broken (and what CEOs deserve instead)

Most agencies look great on the surface.

A charismatic founder who can talk a good game.
A polished pitch.
Big promises.
Loaned credibility from case studies that usually aren’t even theirs.

But behind the curtain?

They’re not investing in people, processes or systems.
They’re investing in volume.

The churn-and-earn model.
Sell the package.
Automate the onboarding.
Deliver the bare minimum.
Avoid refunds at all costs.

That’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud.

You might get a white-labelled CRM.
You might get a few “guarantees” designed to justify the upfront cost.
You might even get excited on the sales call…

But very quickly you realise:

They put more effort into avoiding refunds
than building relationships.

That’s why CEOs are burnt out with agencies.
And that’s why the model is collapsing.

The industry doesn’t need another “done-for-you marketing company.”
It needs leadership.
It needs strategy.
It needs execution performed at an elite level.

The secret sauce is not the package.
It’s the execution.

And execution is where agencies fall apart.

They sell “full service”
but deliver task completion.

They frame everything as a package
because it’s easier to systemise low-effort fulfilment than deliver meaningful outcomes.

You end up paying thousands for a lead form you could build yourself in an hour after watching a couple of YouTube videos.

And there is zero value exchange in that.

Marketing isn’t a checkbox.
Marketing isn’t a template.
Marketing isn’t an invoice.

Marketing is the engine room of the business.
It deserves leadership — not automation.

This is where the relationship needs to change.

Working with the right marketing people should be:

Not something you dread.
Not something you chase.
Not something you have to babysit.

My mission is simple:

To bring the fun back into working with marketing people
and transform the relationship between the CEO and the CMO.

Because the best thing a real CMO can do is this:

👉 Inspire the CEO to think about their business the way they used to.
With clarity.
With energy.
With ambition.
With purpose.

Speaking to a Marketing person should be the most exciting conversation any CEO has, and this has gotten lost along the way somehow.

That spark is what grows companies.
Not templates.
Not “packages.”
Not fulfilment shortcuts.

Leadership + execution at an elite level.
That’s the new model.
That’s the future of marketing.
And that’s why the agency era is ending.

It not AI thats causing it, the modern CEO just knows better.

#modernceo #entrepreneur #marketing #marketingagency #leadform #ai #cmo #fractionalmarketing #relationshipsnotcontracts

Bad Marketing:
- Here's my product
- Here's what it does
- Here's what's so good about it

Good Marketing:
- Here's your problem
- Here's the benefit of solving it
- Here's why what you've tried has failed


And by the way, here's a product that will help you solve it

The funny thing is the “bad marketing” approach is usually what founders default to because they are too close to what they built. They genuinely think people will care about specs, functions, and clever features

The Truth About AI in Marketing (and why it will make more millionaires than the dot-com era)

Everyone thinks AI is going to replace marketers. It won’t.

It’s going to expose them.

AI doesn’t make bad marketers better. AI makes bad marketers louder, faster and more chaotic.

👉 AI without strategy is spam. 👉 AI without commercial thinking is wasted ad spend. 👉 AI without leadership just produces more confusion, not more revenue.

This is why AI will create more millionaires than the dot-com era:

📌 Not because AI is powerful… 📌 But because most people don’t know how to use it properly.

Just like the internet created billionaires — but not for everyone — AI won’t reward the users… it will reward the leaders who know what to do with it.

Here’s where the real advantage is:

🔹 AI multiplies talent
🔹 AI multiplies knowledge
🔹 AI multiplies commercial thinking
🔹 AI multiplies execution — IF you know what you’re doing

AI is a multiplier. If you multiply nothing, you still get nothing.

If you multiply strategic leadership? You get rocket fuel.

Businesses won’t win because they “added AI.” They’ll win because they added leaders who know how to deploy AI with purpose.

That’s the future:

📌 Fractional CMOs who know strategy, data, customer behaviour, and how to lead creative + tech teams the right way.

AI isn’t replacing marketers. It’s replacing marketers without commercial intelligence.

And it’s making millionaires out of the ones who have it.

🔎 Want clarity on how to use AI to scale your marketing function properly? DM me — I’ll point you in the right direction.

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The best advice I ever received… Don’t chase contracts. Don’t chase sales. Don’t chase “quick wins”. Build relationships with the right people. Because here’s the truth most won’t admit: If your clients aren’t queuing up to renew with you… If you spend more time defending your value than delivering it… If every conversation feels like justifying your existence… You’re not doing it right. Great relationships make business effortless. They make retention natural. They turn clients into advocates. And they eliminate the noise, the pushback and the pressure to “prove yourself”. So how do you avoid the trap lesser-experienced marketers fall into? 🚫 Stop trying to impress — start trying to understand. Ask better questions. Learn their world. Solve the right problems. 🚫 Stop overpromising — start overdelivering. Understated confidence earns trust. Results keep it. 🚫 Stop hiding behind activity — start owning outcomes. Nobody cares how busy you are. They care what actually moved. 🚫 Stop chasing new clients — start deepening existing ones. Retention is the strongest indicator of true value. 🚫 Stop talking tactics — start thinking commercially. AOV, LTV, downstream revenue, pipeline quality… that’s where respect is earned. And here’s the simplest truth of all: If you’re truly adding value, you don’t need to sell anything. People buy into you because they can feel the difference. Real relationships built on trust and value create growth that never needs forcing. The contracts follow. The sales follow. The referrals follow. The brand grows. Because people don’t renew with you out of obligation — they renew because they don’t want to grow without you. Follow for more straight-talking advice. Like and share so I can help more people, more teams and more businesses win in 2026. hashtag#marketinghelp hashtag#cmo hashtag#marketingdirector hashtag#helpingmarketingteams hashtag#increasedproductivity hashtag#marketingadvice hashtag#marketingconsultancy

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Friday thought 💭 Bad marketing feels like someone is selling something you don’t necessarily want or need Average marketing feels like someone is selling you something Good marketing feels like someone is trying to help you Great marketing feels like they understand you Elite marketing feels like you can’t stop thinking about buying the product / service and you need to know more Ask yourself what type of leads do I have coming into my business right now? This will tell you how good your marketing is without anyone needing to do anything for you. The right marketing should be creating a great conversation right from the first call. If not, sadly you are getting something wrong