For independent agencies, it’s a time of change. The market is dividing between agencies that own their own data and those that don’t; those that can rethink their business models around proprietary products, and those that can’t; and those that can leverage agentic solutions to accelerate the transformation and those that are falling behind.
Recently, Jonathan Ricard, Resonate’s Chief Strategy Officer, addressed these challenges in a presentation called “The Agency Survival Guide: Own Your Data, Own Your Future.” Here are three core ideas Ricard shared about the state of play in the agency space, what it takes to meet the moment, and how agencies can take the right “next step,” wherever they are on the maturity curve.
Takeaway 1: Your Data Must Be the Differentiator
Every agency now has access to the same AI tools, the same media platforms, the same optimization algorithms. None of that is a differentiator.
What really makes your agency unique is the consumer data layer you build: your clients’ CRM files, your own ad exposure logs, identity data, and enrichment from partners. That layer is the actual product. AI, predictive modeling, and audience activation are just the ways you put it to work. The quality of your intelligence makes the outcomes distinct.
Building and realizing value from your data layer starts with three steps:
- Audit the first-party data your clients are actually willing to share. This may be things like 90-day purchase files, CRM segments, and site visitor logs. Also find out what forms this data is in. The ID types they can hand over (hashed email, mobile ad IDs, residential IPs) determine the depth of enrichment possible.
- Map where your own data assets sit. Every agency is sitting on ad exposure logs, bid data, and performance records that are anonymous in isolation but become meaningful when matched against a consumer intelligence layer that provides you millions of profiles and thousands of attributes.
- Combine one client’s first-party data, including things like recent purchasers, historic value, and existing segmentation, with your own data assets and a third-party enrichment source. Use that enriched audience to build the media plan from the start, rather than handing a generic seed list to a platform and letting it optimize on its own.
Takeaway 2: You Don’t Need Billions to Keep Pace with Holdcos
Publicis acquired Epsilon for $4.4 billion to build its consumer data foundation, then announced a $2.2 billion deal for LiveRamp to extend its data connectivity and agentic capabilities. Horizon Media built its proprietary data platform, Blu, on a partnership with TransUnion’s identity graph.
You’ve read the headlines, but what does it actually mean for your agency?
That massive investment buys identity matching at scale and proprietary data infrastructure substantial enough to power agentic workflows. This in turn allows these companies to serve more accounts with fewer people, making clients that weren’t worth pursuing under an FTE model suddenly viable. That’s the competitive pressure most independent agencies are just beginning to feel.
The advantage isn’t exclusive to companies that can spend billions, though. The identity matching and data scale a holdco had to acquire outright is available to independent agencies through partnership instead of acquisition. That means the real question isn’t whether you can afford to compete, it’s which partnership model fits where you are today:
- If you’re building from scratch, you need engineering resources that understand cloud infrastructure and data clean rooms, a data product team, and people who can sell data as a product. Make sure you have the talent to execute.
- If you’re adding onto existing capabilities, the priority is finding the right data partner to fill the gaps and building go-to-market around the combined product. Resonate’s Ignition platform is designed as this kind of on ramp to a true marketing operating system that plugs into your current stack rather than replacing it.
- If you’re buying turnkey, your investment is lighter on engineering but heavier on sales enablement. Your team still needs to know how to present data products as a value driver to clients, not just a vendor add-on.
Takeaway 3: Build the Commercial Model to Match the Data Layer
FTE billing is already under pressure. Clients know AI makes certain tasks faster and cheaper, and they’re expecting that to show up in their invoices in 2027. Without a new revenue line, those AI-driven savings that come from greater efficiency just become lower fees for clients instead of better margins for you.
Data products solve this. An audience model built from a client’s first-party data, enriched with your own assets and partner data, has value as a proprietary asset rather than just a deliverable. Price and sell it that way, as a standalone line — don’t bury it inside a retainer as overhead. Holdcos have been running this exact model for years through proprietary data marketplaces, and it’s what Resonate’s predictive consumer intelligence helps deliver to independent agencies.
In practice, this means you need to:
- Identify the right first clients to pilot a data product with. The right client is one that gives you meaningful first-party data access, room to improve campaign performance, and a relationship strong enough to try something new.
- Rethink the margin model. If you’re building audience segments using enriched, proprietary data, the resulting asset should carry principal revenue above and beyond billable hours.
- Invest in how your team sells this. The pitch is, “We built something about your customers that no one else has, and here’s what it tells us about where your next marketing dollar should go.” That requires training in addition to the tools.
These three takeaways are just a starting point; the full “Agency Survival Guide” webinar goes deeper on building the data layer, competing without holdco-level spending, and shifting your commercial model. Watch it on-demand here. And if you’re interested in learning more about how Resonate can help your agency take the next step toward a new business model, schedule some time to chat with our experts.
