Why we're starting a media agency

Fundamentally, we believe the media agency industry is broken and ready to be disrupted. Historically, it’s been difficult to change, but advancements in AI have finally created the set of conditions where it’s possible to do so. The agencies of the future will be half the size, twice as fast, and three times as effective. At their core they will be tech companies, their products will be advertising.

We intend to build one.

When agencies were in their prime they were talent hotbeds, housing exceptional people who loved the challenge of solving interesting problems for different businesses. Building a tech first media company with a sole focus on harnessing data and human expertise to solve real advertising challenges will allow us to do the same.

Fourteen10 is the product of years spent thinking about what it would take to invert the media agency business model to focus on strategic thinking and quality, not stuffing head hours in a retainer.

Two contradictory beliefs underpin our business model. The first is that it won’t be data, AI or technology that will unlock future growth, but people. Great people focussed on solving problems has always been and will always be a winning strategy. The second is that the best way to find and utilise great people will be through the use of data, AI and technology. It’s a fine line we tread and one that hasn’t been possible until recently.

It is now though. Here’s why.

Advertising has never been harder

It has never been harder to acquire customers through advertising than it is right now. The days of building a business off the back of a ROAS number in Meta and Google are over. Nothing comes easy anymore. Today’s businesses have to navigate an attention scarce environment where media is less effective, ads more expensive, measurement inaccurate and creative inertia at all time high. This set of circumstances raises the skill level required to compete. Founders and CMOs are trying to grapple with these challenges and need agencies with deep expertise to help solve these problems. Businesses can’t afford to hire specialists within each discipline, nor can they rely on cookie cutter solutions to deal with harder growth challenges.

The skill level required to compete has lifted - the easy days of performance marketing in 1-2 channels are long gone.

Media agencies aren’t up to the task

Media agencies have no bargaining power with customers or the ad platforms from whom they buy inventory. There are zero barriers to entry so there is a huge oversupply of agencies (according to SEMRush there are 12,000 advertising agencies in Australia alone). As a result, they’ve become increasingly commoditised; margins have been compressed and costs squeezed. The default operating state of most media agencies is being paid to do work their client’s have already thought of, as cheaply as possible, not to solve problems and improve business outcomes for their clients.

With advertising getting harder and more complex, the gap between what clients need and what agencies deliver has never been wider.

Advancements in AI have finally created the set of conditions to build a better model

Over the next five years, service businesses and SaaS companies will converge as generative AI enables automation of workflows currently carried out by junior to mid level talent. As AI takes on more work, service businesses will be less constrained by time. Competitive advantage will accrue to the companies with the best talent, who will be able to scale themselves 10-20X, compounding skill advantages.

Media agencies are especially vulnerable to this technological shift. Their business models are over reliant on arbitraging junior talent (billed out at a huge markup, made to work a lot more hours than they’re paid) to complete tactical client work that can be replaced by AI. This produces poor client outcomes, has eroded trust, and has accelerated industry commoditisation.

Deep strategic expertise combined with agentic AI will be the foundation of the media agencies of the future. The current status quo is ready to be disrupted.

Our Perspective: brilliant people focussed on solving problems and providing exceptional service is - and has always been - a winning strategy

Fourteen10 is a media agency built for ambitious brands disenchanted with the current status quo. Built from a clean piece of paper, we’re laser focussed on solving the biggest advertising challenges brands face today. 

For agencies to deliver the quality of work required to help brands grow and provide utility in the future, they need to double down on strategic thinking and help brands solve their biggest problems. This requires experience and capability, both of which are incongruous with current business models.

Our model is purpose-built for the future. We only hire top strategic talent, with a  focus on service, and use AI in the right places to amplify their impact on our client’s bottom line.

Welcome to Fourteen10.