2025 is “The Year Of Independent Ad Agencies.” CTV Is Helping Them Do It.

For advertising agencies, the last few years can be described in one word: rollercoaster. Following another explosion of specialty agencies during the social media boom, the last few years have seen an industry contraction, as 91% of brands have moved to bring marketing in-house and big agencies have merged to vacuum up a dwindling client pool. 

Small to mid-sized agencies have found themselves getting scrappy to stay ahead, putting their unique capabilities front and center while utilizing technology that solves challenges and catalyzes growth. The rise of AI, targetable TV ads, performance marketing strategies, ad optimization, and analytics has helped these agencies quickly scale their business offering to meet client needs and compete with the industry’s Goliaths. Now independent agencies are poised to gain significant ground in 2025 — and Connected TV is a cornerstone of their strategy. 

Big Ad Agencies Are Dominating

Today’s largest advertising agencies globally command billions of dollars in revenue and have deep pockets, big clients, and prestige.

But while these agencies have gobbled up blue-chip brands and market share, they’ve also been acquiring new companies and other agencies to scale rapidly. In 2024 alone, 13 major marcom agencies made 52 acquisitions in under 12 months.

Smaller creative agencies simply can’t compete at this scale, so rather than determining success based on a traditional agency model that prioritizes growth above all else, these savvy outfits are measuring wins based on their clients’ success. And new advertising technology and strategies that have democratized the ad landscape are making that possible — giving smaller- to mid-sized agencies access to the same levers and capabilities of the big players. As a result, while larger agencies are focused on growth, these challenger agencies can use self-serve software to drill down on performance, like finding and targeting key audiences, monitoring results in real time, optimizing campaigns on the fly, and focusing on ensuring all of their clients are getting the best possible bang for their advertising buck. 

Brands Are Moving Advertising In-House

In today’s interconnected world, brands want constant access to campaign metrics, full control over messaging, and to spend every ad dollar wisely. The rise of performance marketing platforms, which easily and powerfully target audiences and offer 24/7 analytics, has given brands the tools they need to do that. As a result, the allure of advertising agencies has lost a little of its lustre, and brands are pulling marketing back in-house to retain full control — but straining agency relationships in the process. 

According to Advertising Week, brands have lost trust in the agencies they’ve worked with over the last several years. Now it’s up to agencies to rebuild that trust with a holistic, long-term marketing approach focusing on performance. And based on a 2022 marketing survey from Setup, most brands agree on this solution. In fact, while brands have been eager to pull marketing back in-house, many still want help — only 30% of marketers in a Forrester survey said they want to completely manage media alone. 

Ad agencies still hold a lot of prestige, and brands still look to them for their creativity. But the days of “just” offering compelling creative are over. To reignite their agency relationships, clients need performance marketing outcomes that balance creative solutions with strategic initiatives. 

Connected TV: The Great Equalizer

While the ease and accessibility of technology have helped brands move marketing operations in-house, it’s also every agency’s secret weapon in staying competitive. These tech advancements have triggered a shift in how creativity is produced and clients are managed, enabling smaller ad agencies to retain clients and compete directly with larger competitors at a fraction of the cost. 

In 2024, we polled advertising agencieson their experience with Connected TV. Nearly 79% of agencies said that CTV has unlocked new business opportunities with their current clients, while 57% said that it’s responsible for growing their business with new clients. 

“Our clients are most excited about the ability to merge programmatic audience targeting with machine learning, delivering high-quality creative storytelling to prime in-market audiences. MNTN continues to remove so many of the barriers to entry for emergent and disruptive DTC and omnichannel brands, leveling the playing field and bringing more competition to TV ad distribution.”  

Justin Buckley
Partner | ATTN

This ability to deepen their current commitments while attracting new ones has paid off. 50% of agencies polled said that offering CTV via MNTN has led to higher earnings, more campaign success, and more client KPIs achieved. A whopping 79% say this has boosted client confidence in their agency’s ability to operate digital channels.

By integrating CTV into their offerings, agencies can distinguish themselves from competitors lacking modern TV advertising solutions. Moreover, the interface of top CTV platforms mirrors that of paid search and social media, making it seamless for digital marketers to adopt.

How CTV Benefits Agencies

Television, once considered solely an awareness-driven medium, has evolved significantly with the innovation brought by leading CTV providers. They’ve transformed the TV screen into a third powerhouse performance channel alongside paid search and social media. For example, on MNTN Performance TV, agencies deliver measurable results to clients using advanced features like precise targeting, real-time analytics, auto optimizations, and an attribution model called Verified Visits™ specifically designed for CTV.

With these capabilities, agencies can bring vital insights to the table that in-house marketing teams might not have — and compete with the bigger agencies down the block who charge exponentially more for the same service. This helps win new business and grow existing clients faster. 

Further, CTV lets small and mid-sized clients get on TV without the big linear budget. These brands can easily test and target customers to maximize ad spend, and it offers them the legitimacy of being seen on screen — a format that was previously accessible only for the biggest brands with the deepest pockets. In short, CTV offers a viable, scalable ad channel that can be applied to any part of the sales funnel and achieve advertiser goals, all while functioning like search and social — but with higher engagement rates. 

“Our clients are excited about the deeper understanding of how potential customers are interacting with their website after viewing a video. Insights learned from view rate all the way to revenue help my clients make better decisions on future video projects as well as seeing revenue growth from CTV.”

Matt Meeker
Product Development Manager | Logical Position

The Year of the Agency 

Creative agencies have always competed with each other, adapting their strategies to accommodate challenging industry fluctuations and tumultuous times. During a moment when brands are moving advertising in-house and the further consolidation of large agency power casts a tall shadow, smaller independent agencies have the chance to offer more value than ever and level the playing field with tools like Connected TV — and it’s setting these agencies up for their biggest year ever.