Make Your Move

It’s time to move from a pricing model to a shared value model. There is no single remuneration model that will work for every agency-client relationship—and there shouldn't be. The agency and client working together know their business, relationship and respective contributions better than anyone else.

• Moving from rigid pricing to shared-value models requires customized approaches built on mutual understanding of business realities, risks and goals.
• What we're seeing elsewhere: Consulting is confronting the same disconnect between time and value. August 2026 research from Stanford's Digital Economy Lab argues that AI is changing the economics of consulting and is likely to push firms toward hybrid and asset-based pricing structures rather than a single replacement for time-based billing.

As AI transforms capabilities and workflows, agencies and clients must partner to direct its value toward growth, innovation and shared benefit rather than automatic cost reduction.

At the 4As, we are exploring research to create a Shared Value Framework which could help agencies and clients answer these questions:

• What value are we trying to create together?
• What can the agency meaningfully influence—and what sits outside its control?
• Which business and marketing KPIs will define success?
• What client data must be shared to measure that success credibly?
• Where should the agency have upside as well as accountability?
• Which capabilities, IP, technology or productized offerings create value independent of labor?
• What remuneration structure best aligns both parties around those answers?
• How often should the model be revisited as the relationship, technology and business change?