How the market works
Marketing spend flows through a web of suppliers. Creative agencies develop campaigns and content. Media agencies plan and buy advertising across channels. Specialist agencies handle digital, social, public relations, experiential, shopper and other disciplines. Production companies, studios and freelancers make the assets. Marketing technology platforms, data providers and ad tech vendors sit underneath it all.
Many organizations appoint an agency of record for a discipline, sometimes alongside a roster of specialists. Agencies are paid by retainer, where a fixed monthly fee covers a defined scope and team; by project; by commission on media spend; or through hybrids and performance incentives. Media is often bought through the agency, which may also receive rebates or volume incentives from media owners, buy inventory as principal and resell it, or charge technology fees for its own platforms. Much of this is legitimate, but it only works for the client if it is disclosed and contracted.
Where cost and value leak
Retainers that outlive their scope. The agency is paid for a staffing plan agreed at the start of the year, but the actual work shifts. Hours aren’t reconciled, and out-of-scope fees get added on top of an underused retainer.
Media economics that aren’t visible. Rebates, volume incentives, principal-based buying and platform fees reduce what the client actually gets for its media spend, and the media agreement doesn’t require disclosure or allow an audit.
Production bought through the agency. Production is marked up or passed through with little competition, and the organization pays different rates for similar assets across brands and regions.
Martech sprawl. Marketing teams buy platforms, data and tools independently, with overlapping functionality, auto-renewals and seats that aren’t used.
Rights and usage gaps. Talent, music and stock licenses expire or are limited by territory or channel, so the organization either pays to renew rights it didn’t know it needed or reshoots.
Illustration: a consumer brand consolidates its media with one agency, which quotes an attractive fee on media spend. The contract defines media cost loosely and doesn’t mention inventory the agency buys as principal. Over time, a growing share of programmatic spend runs through the agency’s own trading desk, where the margin sits inside the media rate rather than the fee. The marketing team sees stable fees and reasonable reported results; nobody asks how much of each dollar reaches working media. When the brand eventually requests an audit, the contract limits it to the fee calculation, not the underlying media costs.
Negotiation and sourcing levers
- Agency model and roster — the right mix of agency of record, specialists and in-house capability, with clear roles and fewer overlaps.
- Fee structure — retainer, project, commission or hybrid, based on scope and staffing, with regular reconciliation of hours and deliverables.
- Media transparency terms — disclosure of rebates, incentives, principal buying and technology fees, plus audit rights over media costs, not just fees.
- Performance incentives — agency compensation linked to agreed business and delivery measures.
- Production sourcing — competitive bids, rate cards and decoupling production from the creative agency where it adds value.
- Martech rationalization — consolidated platform contracts, seat management and renewal timing.
- Rights and usage management — clear ownership terms, tracked license expirations and pre-negotiated renewal pricing.
The S2V approach
Potential. We map marketing spend across agencies, media, production and martech against contracts, scopes and fee structures. That shows where retainers don’t match work, where media economics are opaque, where production is priced inconsistently and where platforms overlap.
Priority. We rank opportunities with marketing and finance by value, feasibility, time to value and risk, including campaign continuity and agency relationships. Agency reviews, media planning cycles and platform renewals set the sequence.
Performance. We run the sourcing and negotiations with marketing at the table: agency reviews and remuneration, media agreements with transparency and audit terms, production sourcing and martech consolidation. Creative decisions stay with marketing. Where contract language needs legal review, your counsel provides it.
Value. We validate results against invoices, media reconciliations and platform usage, not quoted fees. S2V Pulse tracks agency fees, scope delivery, media terms and rights expirations so the value holds from one planning cycle to the next.
Data you’ll need
The core sources are AP data, master services agreements and statements of work, agency staffing plans and timesheets, media plans, buy confirmations and reconciliations, production estimates and actuals, martech contracts and usage reports, and rights and license records.
Identifiers break across these sources. Agencies bill through several entities within a holding company, media is invoiced net or gross inconsistently, production appears as agency pass-through with no underlying vendor, and marketing spend is coded by campaign in one system and by cost center in another. We establish first whether the data can be joined reliably. If it can’t, we say so and scope the foundation work separately, so marketing and finance share a view of spend they can both use.
Outcomes we target
- Fees matched to work — agency compensation aligned to real scope and staffing, reconciled regularly.
- Transparent media economics — disclosure and audit rights covering media costs, rebates and fees.
- Competitive production — consistent rates and bids for similar assets across brands and regions.
- A leaner martech stack — fewer overlapping platforms, managed seats and planned renewals.
- Rights under control — ownership and usage terms tracked, with expirations visible in advance.
- A shared view of marketing spend — agency, media, production and platform costs in one model.
Every result is tracked to realized value — measured in invoices and operating performance, not negotiated estimates.
Industries where this matters
How we help
- Assess — Assess establishes where your organization stands and where value is trapped.
- Advise — Advise determines where procurement should go and what deserves resources first.
- Execute — Execute turns strategy into implemented results.
- Develop — Develop builds your team's capability so results last after the engagement ends.
- Sustain — Sustain protects and extends value after implementation.
Frequently asked questions
Will procurement slow down our marketing team?
It shouldn't. We design the commercial model with marketing leaders so briefs, approvals and agency relationships keep moving. The goal is clear scopes, fair fees and transparent media economics, not more steps in the creative process.
Should we pay our agency on retainer or by project?
Retainers suit steady, predictable workloads where the agency team is effectively dedicated. Project fees suit variable or campaign-driven work. Many organizations use a smaller retainer for core services and project fees for the rest. We use scope and staffing data to find the right mix.
What does media transparency actually mean?
It means knowing what your media dollars buy: the net cost of media, the agency's fee, and any rebates, volume incentives, principal-based buying margins or technology fees that flow to the agency or its holding company. The media agreement should require disclosure and give you audit rights.
How do you handle rights and usage for creative?
We make sure contracts define who owns the work, how talent, music, photography and footage can be used, for how long and where, and how renewals are priced. Where rights terms need legal review, your counsel provides it; we focus on the commercial terms and tracking.
Where does an engagement usually start?
With the S2V Compass, an assessment of agency agreements, scopes, fee structures, media contracts, production and martech spend. It shows where value is leaking and whether your data can support ongoing tracking of fees and media economics.