• July 7, 2025

Agency leaders discuss managing change & fatigue, forecasting & IP protection

Agency leaders discuss managing change & fatigue, forecasting & IP protection

Agency leaders discuss managing change & fatigue, forecasting & IP protection 1024 683 micebook.

This month’s nineteen agency leaders’ catch-up tackled a range of challenges currently impacting the events agencies, from behavioural change and cultural resistance to IP protection, performance dips, and market unpredictability.

At the half-year mark in 2025, while some agencies are navigating the complexity of business transformation, others are managing the pressure of maintaining momentum after a record year. Here’s a few takeaways from the discussion…

Behavioural change & cultural resistance

Several leaders shared frustrations around driving internal change, especially post-transformation or during periods of structural evolution. One leader described feeling like they were “flying the flag alone” despite having built solid foundations for the future.

The biggest challenge was the adoption of new behaviours and processes. While leadership teams push forward with big visions, operational teams often struggle to lift their heads above the day-to-day workload. “Everyone’s busy,” one leader said. “But unless we lower the bar and make things easy and accessible, it’s hard to drive anything new through.”

Others agreed – behavioural change requires repeated reinforcement, visible benefits, and, at times, difficult choices. “People don’t change until it’s uncomfortable not to,” said one leader, who shared how they switched off an old system to force adoption of a new one. “There was panic for two weeks – and now it’s just the norm.”

Cultural “assassins” – team members who actively or passively resist change – were also flagged as dangerous blockers. “Sometimes you’ve got to accept they’re never going to change, and you just need to move them on.”

Building momentum without burnout

While many agencies celebrated exceptional results in 2023 and 2024, several leaders voiced concern that success had led to complacency.

“It’s like winning the Premier League,” said one. “Now we’re asking – can we do it again?” Others pointed to signs of fatigue, with team members already burnt out by June and dreading the intensity of Q4.

To reset the tone, one agency hosted a staff conference focused not on partying but mindset. “We didn’t talk growth – we talked about winning. We made people feel like they were successful again. That tweak in mindset gave everyone their sparkle back.”

Some are also adjusting targets or pausing aggressive growth plans in favour of sustainability. “We set a flat target this year. We’re not going to kill ourselves. We’ve got great culture and EBIT – we want balance.”

IP protection & pitching dilemmas

Concerns around idea ownership also took centre stage, with one leader highlighting a recent example of proprietary pitch concepts being lifted and used elsewhere by a client.

While many agreed that going down a legal route risks damaging the client relationship, they also discussed the importance of establishing clear contractual boundaries, asking for feedback, and where possible, turning the moment into a commercial opportunity – such as securing exclusivity or a retainer.

Others stressed the importance of open conversations and using pitch outcomes as learning opportunities. “You could say to the client you obviously liked our ideas, so what was your concern with us being able to deliver them?” one leader reflected. “We’ve had that feedback before, that they felt we were too small to deliver. At the time, we’d only been operating for two years, so fair enough. But next time, how do we make sure the client feels confident not just in our creativity, but in our ability to execute? We want them to know we don’t just have good ideas; we have exceptional delivery too.”

Others shared their own red flags. “We’ve pulled out of pitches where we suspected it was just a pricing exercise,” said one agency head. “The effort isn’t worth it if the intent isn’t genuine.”

Short lead times & market uncertainty

Several agency leaders reported slow decision-making, delayed budgets, and shorter-than-ever lead times, particularly over the summer months. High turnover in client-side roles was also impacting continuity and planning. “All our key decision-makers have changed jobs,” one said. “It’s bizarre – and everything has to start over.”

Others expressed concern that clients are asking for fully costed visions of potential events without firm intent to go ahead. “The quality of work we’re expected to deliver – without budget or brief – is a real challenge.”

 

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