What happened
In an opinion piece published online by Marketeer on 31 October, APAP executive director Sandra Alvarez describes a familiar agency problem. Clients can generate copy, images and campaign variations themselves. She argues that agencies will need to earn their fee through knowledge, impact and the quality of their decisions as production takes less time. The piece also appeared in the magazine’s October edition.
This is an industry argument, not evidence that every client is cutting fees. Its practical point is that access to the same tools does not create the same capability. A generated starting point still leaves choices about the problem, audience and final direction. Those choices need a place in the commercial agreement.
Why it matters here
For a founder, the useful distinction is between making an asset and deciding what deserves to be made. If the proposal sells only production hours, a faster draft gives the client an obvious reason to question the price. Show which decisions your team will make and what the client receives from them.
For example, a client may bring three generated campaign ideas. Your contribution could be choosing the right audience, rejecting a weak promise and explaining one direction. Put that work beside the deliverables before agreeing the fee. This makes the conversation specific without claiming that every hour saved must become profit.
Do this by Friday
Choose one proposal you have yet to send. Rewrite its scope so the client can see the thinking they are buying alongside the finished work.
01
Separate the decisions from the production
Mark the lines that describe choosing an audience, direction or message, then separate them from the lines about producing assets.
02
Name what the client gets from your judgement
Add one concrete output, such as a recommended direction with reasons, using only work your team will actually deliver.
03
Write the sentence you will use about the fee
Try: “This fee covers the direction we recommend, the reasons behind it and the agreed production, including work built from your draft.”
Try it now
Act as an agency founder. Using [paste the anonymised proposal scope], separate production from the decisions we make. Draft one client-facing paragraph explaining what the fee covers. Keep only promised work, flag missing details and invent no results or prices.
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31 October 2026
Opinion by Sandra Alvarez, executive director of Portugal’s agency association APAP
Also in that Monday’s email
Worth watching: Prada’s holiday films put hand-drawn animation centre stage.
Safe to ignore: Big Tech shares fall on AI spending fears.
Run it properly
The Pitch Strategy Playbook
Make the decisions you sell visible in your next proposal.