EACA CEO Says Reclaiming Agencies’ IP Is “Mandatory” For the Industry’s Future

The European Association of Communication Agencies’ (EACA) chief executive officer, Charley Stoney, says the advertising industry’s "pay by the hour" model needs to change because it fails to monetise the agency's most valuable asset: the idea and strategic thinking (IP).

She argues that moving away from a purely hourly rate is "not only possible, but I think it's mandatory".

The average EACA agency member now spends €650,937 annually on pitching to win new business, LBB reported, citing the EACA’s Cost of Pitching Report 2025. Charley also notes this means they would need to win business worth at least €7 million to cover those costs, assuming a minimum EBITDA profit margin of 10%.

In an exclusive interview, Charley expanded on her advocacy for changing the industry's payment model.

A Necessary Change to the Business Model

Charley says, "We need to get closer to a model that pays a fair price for the idea and the IP. It's just going to drive efficiencies that don't cater for idea generation."

She adds, "I'd like to see industry have more money to put into development and training of their staff, and I think it will be healthier for the well-being of the industry talent."

Rewarding Creativity

Charley also wants creatives to be rewarded for long-term thinking and innovation. She defines the core value as not the finished product, but the strategic spark behind it: “For our industry, it's the idea that sparks the insight, that sparks the creative platform, that generates the excitement... It's not necessarily the creative execution. It is the thinking that goes into that and that sits behind the scenes, and it's the hidden gem, and it's the fairy dust.”

This new model would allow agencies to put more money into training and development, resulting in a more respected industry with healthier, better-resourced talent who are rewarded for making a "massive difference for their clients' business”.

“I see a world where creativity and strategic thinking are both held up as being the most important things in an agency.”

The Hurdles and How to Overcome Them

The issue of changing the business model lies in getting procurement departments on board since “they need something tangible to purchase”, says Charley. “This is what they struggle with on the whole... It’s the concept of buying services where they can't always envision an end product necessarily. And that's where agencies struggle in negotiations, with setting a value on our IP.”

That is one of the main reasons Charley doesn’t suggest “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” but creating a mix of business models. “We've got to look beyond the hourly rate to a mix of hourly rate, outputs, productised services, and technology licensing fees for AI models.”

She adds, "The remuneration model that I foresee should help the industry productise our IP for those procurement departments that need to buy something tangible."

What This Has to Do With AI

Since artificial intelligence can already produce average creativity, Charley thinks, “vanilla is not going to cut it, because vanilla is going to equal what AI can produce.”

If the business model doesn’t change and creatives aren’t incentivised to develop competitive ideas with longevity, Charley predicts a bleak future. "Otherwise, we will lose that talent, and there will be no talent left to grow clients’ businesses. In short, they might be able to cut out some of the admin. But don't cut out the thinking time. We need to continuously bring on board fresh talent, new talent, thinking talent, and the best creatives. And we're simply not going to be able to do that with the current model.”

​Read more from LBB's Aysun Bora here

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