why are brands shifting to ‘tiny but mighty’ agencies?

The shift is on. Why are CMOs/Marketing Leaders hiring "Tiny but Mighty" groups like Mutiny 🌊 and cutting back big agency retainers?

1. Speed

The #1 reason is speed to market. Brand leaders are seeking either 1) Solve XYZ problem now or 2) Bring fresh new ideas to the table. Either way, they prefer not taking months of monotonous exploration just to regurgitate the same "research" the last agency supplied.

2. Talent

The whole idea of an agency partnership is access to high-level expertise that can't be hired in-house. But that's no longer the experience many brands are having. There's a whole lot of multi-step delegation to cheaper talent, on the job training, and shops staffing who is available vs. who is best fit. Because guess what, that's better for the agency margin.

3. Cost

There's just too much bloat. It's not nefarious, it's simply a factor of how these engagements are set-up. With 7-8 people on an account where only 2-3 are actually bringing expertise—increasing cost and (once again) slowing down the delivery.

4. Focused POV

As agency teams grow, process gets in the way. If unchecked, well-intentioned process slowly drives a wedge between the subject matter experts and the brand decision makers. These layers add to confusion and muddy the initial vision/strategy that you hired the agency on.