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Rising from the Ashes: the Advertising Agency Model for the Future: Jacco ter Schegget

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Sep 20, 2025

Jacco ter Schegget, an experienced board-level advisor and former CEO of Publicis Groupe Benelux, dives into the future of advertising agencies. He discusses the impact of globalization, AI, and platform dominance on agency models. Jacco suggests that agencies must adapt by centralizing P&Ls and evolving the strategist's role while retaining the importance of creative leadership. He envisions a new marketing services platform that blends client needs with agility, arguing that even in an AI-driven world, entry-level roles remain crucial for understanding trends.

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INSIGHT

AI Amplifies Existing Industry Forces

AI amplifies pre-existing industry trends rather than creating them from scratch.
Platform power, retail media, in-housing and creator economies converge to reshape agencies.

INSIGHT

Consolidation Around Tech And Data

Holding companies are consolidating P&Ls and centering on technology and data.
Publicis pre-empted this by acquiring digital and data firms to own transformational conversations.

ANECDOTE

Pitch Night Revealed P&L Inequity

Jacco recalls pitching for an airline with multiple agencies where bonus news undermined fairness.
That experience illustrated why unified P&Ls and one-team models reduce internal conflict.

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What would a new model agency look like today if we were going to build it from the ground up?

There's been a lot of news about the decline of the agency network model. In a landscape defined by AI disruption, platform dominance and the collapse of legacy holding structures, agencies are being forced to reinvent themselves - fast.

We are honored to have our good friend, Jacco ter Schegget, now a board-level advisor and consultant. He was a former CEO of Publicis Groupe Benelux, JWT Asia, and was our colleague in China as President of OgilvyOne from 2014-2017. This episode is not about nostalgia, but provides practical ideas on how to move forward.
1. Besides AI, what do you believe are the biggest forces shaping the future of marketing agencies today?
2. Are the changes all about technology, or do traditional organizational structures impact it?
3. Does a single P&L mean that senior heads will roll, or can you manage this more effectively?
4. What made agencies so big in the first place?
5. Is there a correlation between the decline of the agency and the loss of its strategic value?
6. If you were building a marketing services platform from scratch today—with your own money—what would it look like?
7. Do we see the services stripped down, given the simplicity of the new OEM manufacturing model?
8. Where do you see the strategist's role in the new agency model?
9. What's the role of the creative leader?
10. What will happen to entry-level executional staff if AI replaces them? Will new agencies just consist of senior-level people?
11. What should we be teaching young people who want to get into the new agency?
12. What would you keep and kill from the previous model for the new one?

Jacco on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaccoterschegget/
About Jacco: https://hanare.nl/

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