Independent media agencies in New Zealand are fundamentally rethinking how they grow, compete, and price their services, according to a new report with implications for the wider ANZ market — including holding company networks, procurement teams, and the broader agency ecosystem.
The findings come from ‘The Indie Advantage,’ published by XPON in partnership with Independent Media Agencies of New Zealand (IMANZ). The report draws on an invite-only roundtable held in Auckland with nine senior agency leaders.
Among its key findings, the report identifies a shift away from the metrics that have traditionally defined agency growth — headcount, billings, and office footprint — toward a sharper focus on profitability per person, repeatable intellectual property, and human-led strategy. AI featured in every topic discussed at the roundtable. The report argues that the structural characteristics of independent agencies — singular leadership, operational flexibility, and the freedom to partner and pivot — position them as a serious competitive force in an increasingly automated industry landscape.
While all agencies are currently investing in AI, the report notes that most are focused on efficiency gains rather than substance or creative application. Once AI is embedded into agency processes and systems, the report contends, the agility that defines independent agencies will produce starker contrasts with their holding company counterparts.
“We’re not tied to using one software or provider. That allows us to shift and ride the AI cycle. Things can shift very quickly. The ability to adapt without shifting the entire platform and offering – that’s what allows us to be a lot more nimble compared to holdcos,” remarked one leader, according to the report.
Report Highlights
XPON and IMANZ provided the following highlights from the findings
Not just an indie issue
While the report documents independent agency strategy, its findings expose structural pressures facing the entire agency sector. Procurement teams are already developing “Human Time Equivalent” (HTE) metrics to benchmark agency efficiency against AI-augmented workflows. This will affect both holding company networks and independents alike.
One agency head observed: “We moved from selling time to project-based outcomes to managed service-based outcomes over three to five years. The repeatable stuff we knew – that’s buying your IP. The independent edge is your repeatability and access to senior stakeholders.”
Chris Rozic, Chief Growth Officer at XPON, said the shift from time-based billing to value-based pricing is accelerating across the industry.
“The real shift is from clients remunerating you for time spent to remunerating you for value created. AI makes that transition easier — if you’re selling outcomes, efficiency is your margin. If you’re still selling hours, it’s a race you can’t win,” Rozic said.
The report argues that holding company networks’ rush to automate is creating a quality gap that clients are beginning to notice. But it also warns that independents are not immune: agencies of any size that default to full automation risk commoditising their output.
Evolving media landscape
In Australia, independent agencies accounted for 64% share of all pitch wins in 2025 (up 17% y-o-y). Indies have always been agile. Capitalising on brand marketing trends earlier, as well as shifts in consumer behaviour, when they’re not beholden to layers of sign-off. This fluid positioning, and ability to pivot quickly in the AI era will be crucial to growing that competitive advantage.
While ‘networked’ media agencies across ANZ have seen jobs cuts, there have been signs of growth in the independent sector, with 70% of indies looking to hire staff in 2026 [IMAA Census data]. The collective media sector may be impacted by redundancies, however automation can now empower indies with a new reality: AI lets a 20-person agency deliver like a 50-person one (but only if you sell value, not time) as one agency head put it.
It’s about delivering more scale and value, not always at a greater size, as one agency lead explained: “Our preference is not just to scale people – it’s to scale how efficient and the impact of revenue per head for those people.”
The future indie agency might have fewer people doing higher-value work, not more people doing the same work. Another leader reflected: “If you asked me 10 years ago, I’d say I want 50 people in the business. Now the metric looks completely different.”
Measurement – still lacks any silver bullet
The report acknowledges that cross-channel attribution remains the industry’s unsolved problem. A lack of first-party data and privacy readiness, the growth of AI search and the resulting zero-click future are leaving questions over measurement. But media agency leaders explained that the real opportunity, in New Zealand at least, is helping clients get from data implementation to business results faster. It’s not about perfect measurement.
XPON offers AI, adtech and data infrastructure to enable agencies to meet the evolving needs of brands, and local practitioner Rozic XPON CGO explained: “Signal loss isn’t slowing down – between privacy regulation and walled gardens, agencies can’t rely on any single data source the way they used to. The ones gaining ground are those helping clients adopt a triangulated approach – blending platform data, econometrics, and incrementality testing – rather than chasing perfect attribution.”
Agencies need to define their own governance now – where AI can enhance, and where human craft is the product. By building managed services, playbooks and IP that compound over time, agencies are able to scale without bloating team numbers. And then, it’s taking clients on the journey, not waiting for first-party data, but focusing on their business outcomes, rather than chasing perfect ROAS.
Simon Teagle, CEO of IMANZ, said the report reflects the independent sector’s willingness to have open discussions.
“I am a fierce advocate for the independent sector, and I believe these stories deserve a wider stage. This report is more than a summary; it is a window into that candid exchange, and an open invitation for you to join the conversation,” Teagle said.
You can download the full report here.
