How should we set agency decision rights?

Agency decision rights are clearest when the client owns commercial choices and final approvals, the agency owns strategic and creative recommendations, and both sides share the work that needs business context and outside perspective. Put those boundaries in a simple decision map before work begins.

The client should define the business challenge, success criteria, budget, scope and people who can approve work. The agency should be able to test assumptions, challenge familiar thinking and recommend stronger routes. Shared decisions should cover the brief, audience priorities, buyer-journey alignment, measurement framework and changes that affect delivery. Keep individual roles distinct even when the working relationship is collaborative. Clear boundaries help account direction manage expectations while strategy and creative teams bring the right kind of challenge.

Agency authority should grow from audience insight and direct understanding of the business, not from a vague promise to be strategic. A retained agency relationship can contribute more usefully when the client provides access to employees, subject-matter experts, customer knowledge and the pressures behind the brief.

Start with discovery that gathers views from across the organisation, including frontline teams, customer-facing colleagues and senior leaders. Use those conversations to identify opportunities, challenges, desired brand qualities and known customer pain points. Bring the findings back to the client, agree the direction, then turn the insight into a creative brief. That sequence gives the agency a sound basis for recommendations while leaving the client in control of the choices that shape the business.

We believe agency decision rights work best when they create room for honest challenge without taking accountability away from the client. The strongest relationships are not supplier arrangements with occasional presentations. They are collaborative working relationships where the client is involved throughout, and where agency teams can bring an outside view to established thinking.

We begin projects by speaking with people across a client's organisation, turning their perspectives and customer knowledge into agreed insight and a creative brief. We have used that approach with Yokogawa to build a people-led brand position, and with IBM to develop a campaign concept for IBM Garage. Those examples show why trust, shared context and clear direction matter: bold ideas need both a strong brief and the confidence to pursue them.