By The Malketeer
The word agency may soon feel like a relic.
In its latest Predictions 2026: Marketing Agencies report, Forrester argues that the very idea of agencies as neutral agents acting purely on behalf of clients is collapsing.
What’s emerging is something quite different: agencies as purveyors — sellers of products, platforms, media, and partnerships — in addition to being service providers.
For Malaysia’s marketers, where retainer erosion, procurement pressures, and AI disruption are already in play, these shifts matter.
They signal a wholesale rethink of how agencies will operate, how brands will buy, and how creativity itself is valued.
The End of the Agent Era
Forrester’s vice-president and principal analyst Jay Pattisall doesn’t mince words: “In 2026, marketing agencies are no longer acting solely as agents, but as owners, resellers, consultants and as partners.”
That means the traditional agency-as-middleman model — advocating on behalf of a client to publishers, platforms, and media owners — is fast giving way to agencies as principals.
Whether reselling inventory, packaging technology, or developing proprietary products, agencies are taking on roles once reserved for vendors, merchants, and consultants.
The implications are stark: clients are no longer paying purely for time and talent.
They’re paying for solutions — bundled, productised and, increasingly, tied to performance.
Blockbuster Deals Ahead
If the Omnicom–IPG tie-up felt seismic, Forrester suggests 2026 may bring an even bigger wave of consolidation.
Two scenarios are on the cards:
Either move would trigger a cascade of reviews — with 85% of US B2C marketing executives already planning to review their media agencies in 2026.
For Malaysia’s marketing chiefs, accustomed to stability in three-to-five-year MSAs, the possibility of “big six” shrinking to “big three” means reassessing where loyalties and efficiencies truly lie.
Principal Media Goes Mainstream
By 2026, Forrester predicts that principal media will represent a third of all media under management.
Agencies will act less as buyers and more as owners of inventory, reselling at a margin while guaranteeing performance.
It’s a model critics say blurs transparency.
But proponents argue it provides cost efficiencies and hedges volatility in uncertain markets.
Global groups like Omnicom, Publicis and WPP already integrate AI into these trading desks, while dentsu, Havas and Horizon Media are scaling their own principal offerings.
In Southeast Asia, where volatility is often the norm, principal media could give regional brands new negotiating power — but also raise uncomfortable questions around neutrality and trust.
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The Human Cost: 15% Fewer Jobs
Perhaps the most sobering forecast: another round of agency headcount cuts.
After trimming 8% of staff in 2025, Forrester expects agencies to reduce jobs by 15% in 2026.
This isn’t simply “doing more with less.”
It’s a restructuring of the economic model itself.
Agencies are shifting from people-hours to products and platforms.
As one holding company CEO bluntly told Forrester: “By 2028, we’ll double profits and halve the people.”
For agency talent — especially in creative and media planning roles — the writing is on the wall.
Redundancies will be offset by demand for specialists who can blend AI oversight with brand stewardship, strategy, and creator-led storytelling.
Creators Take the Driver’s Seat
Another key shift: creator marketing moving from media tactic to creative strategy.
Influencers are demanding more control and higher compensation, pulling them closer to the centre of campaign ideation.
Agencies, once content to treat creator deals as media buys, will be forced to reimagine creators as co-developers of brand stories.
In markets like Malaysia, where TikTok and Instagram culture already dominate youth engagement, this pivot could reset the balance between agencies, creators, and brands.
What Malaysian Marketers Should Do Next
Forrester’s report paints a picture of an industry at a crossroads: consolidating, productising, and automating.
Agencies are resigning their traditional role as “agents” and stepping into murkier, more entrepreneurial waters.
For Malaysian marketers, the opportunity lies in vigilance and adaptability.
Recognise that your agency may no longer be your “agent” in the old sense.
It may instead be your vendor, your reseller, your partner, and — crucially — your competitor for control of media, data, and creativity.
In short: 2026 won’t just be another year of agency reviews.
It will be the year agencies truly resign their “agency.”
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