Collaboration Nation; Why ‘Client Collaboration’ Is Not an Oxymoron

There’s a familiar murmur that still echoes down agency corridors.

“But we’re the creative ones.”

“Why won’t they buy this idea?”

“What don’t they get?”

Here’s a provocative thought: what if your client does get it? What if your client was also your creative partner? What if the person you’re presenting to is also the person you’re presenting with? How would that work?

If you’re no longer the single source of creative output, what’s the agency’s true value proposition? The answer? It hasn’t changed; it’s still all about the work.

The difference is how the work gets made. The trick is to make it with your clients, not just for them.

Welcome to the age of shared ownership

We’re operating in a world of tighter budgets, faster turnarounds and less patience for long drawn-out processes. The idea that an agency must “own” everything from strategy to social captions is increasingly outdated - and, frankly, unnecessary.

Where agencies add real value today is by plugging in precisely where they’re needed. Tactical support. Specialist thinking. Fresh perspective at speed. Ideas the client can’t get to, or doesn’t have time to get to.

Clients win by smartly outsourcing.

Agencies win by staying nimble and relevant.

And everyone wins by getting better work out the door, faster.

Ego is the enemy.

More brands are building serious in-house creative teams, often staffed by people who’ve done their time in ad-land. The agencies that are thriving don not see this as a threat, they’re welcoming it.

This only works if egos are checked at the proverbial door and old-school processes are quietly escorted out. “You do this, we’ll do that” is no longer a viable operating model. The bravest agencies can also hand over an idea and trust the in-house team to run with it. Sometimes you have to let go. Yes, really.

Trust is a two-way street. And yes, your client might improve your idea. Try not to take it personally.

Know why you’ve been hired

Clients don’t always hire agencies to reinvent the wheel, and almost never to double down on what they already believe they’re already doing well. Added value matters, of course, but relevance matters more.

If you’re asked for punchy headlines and come back with a fully integrated, through-the-line activation involving a PR stunt, a TikTok challenge and Beyonce, you’ve probably overcooked it.

Clients today want quick quality and quantity. No surprise there.

That means focusing time, and money, where it actually counts.

Adapt to how clients work. Be it studio overspill, copywriting firepower, production scoping or even drop a CD onto a shoot. Shun their way of working and expect a swift bout of FOMO.

What agencies truly bring is breadth, strategy and ideas plus years of creative experience across categories, markets, audiences and channels. (Sometimes, clients are way ahead on home grown native social than many agencies are.) The best independent agencies know how to deploy the right person at the right time to solve the problem in front of them, not the bigger one they wish they’d been asked to solve.

Ideas are cheap. Insight isn’t.

One crucial distinction needs to be made early: strategy vs. creative ideation vs. execution. Brands often think they want territories when what they really need is insight.

Anyone can come up with “fun thinking”. Tying it back to cultural truths or a genuine business problem? That’s the hard part.This is where the modern creative power couple comes in: the creative director and the creative strategist. When given time to work properly together, they’re a formidable duo - not flashy for the sake of it, but impactful where it matters.

And never underestimate an agency person, formerly known as the “account guy”, who true strength is cultivating the relationship and instilling that sense of “we’re listening”.

Less isolation. More conversation.

Time is a luxury no one has anymore, so use it wisely.

At Unbound, we’re working alongside brands like Grenade and TRIP - with genuinely brilliant in-house creative people. What we’ve found is that more frequent check-ins and less time disappearing into agency caves makes everyone happier. Clients feel reassured. Agencies stay focused. The work gets better.

Agencies should feel like an extension of the client team, not a service provider wheeled out for big moments. Tissue meetings exist for a reason; use them. Share unpolished thinking. Suggest, don’t sell. The goal is to build together, not perform for each other.

Yes, it requires flexibility. And yes, it means working arm-in-arm with the old enemy.

But don’t they say to keep your friends close and enemies closer?

From ownership to empowerment

For agencies working with modern brands that are investing heavily in in-house talent, the value proposition has evolved from ownership to empowerment.

And if you can’t beat them… join them.

Work with them, not for them.

Who knows, even the most seasoned among us might learn something new.