For decades, the agency of record model dominated brand–agency relationships.

One-stop shops with outposts in every key city, tasked with stewarding a brand’s communications across channels and markets. It was a model built on consistency, scale, and long-term stability. But today, the idea of an “agency of record” is being rewritten. In its place: a patchwork of agile, specialist collectives and independent shops that reflect the changing needs of modern brands.

This is Lab Notes, your 3-minute read from Liquid Lab.

The Push Against Monoliths
Large agency networks still offer breadth and infrastructure, and are undoubtedly the proprietors of some of the world’s leading talent and experience banks when it comes to crafting and executing a brand’s story. But many are increasingly questioning whether those benefits outweigh the trade-offs. Speed, flexibility, and cultural nuance have become more valuable than the ability to roll out global toolkits. In an age where relevance can be won or lost in the time between the morning matcha and the post-work pint, the slower, layered processes of legacy agencies can at times feel like a burden.

The rise of the Collective
Smaller creative studios and collectives have surged in appeal. They offer proximity to culture, direct access to senior talent, and the ability to pivot quickly. Importantly, they often work in modular ways, allowing brands to assemble bespoke ecosystems of specialists — from design to social to experiential – rather than relying on a single integrated machine.

We’ve managed to get to the fourth paragraph of a think-piece without mentioning AI, no mean feat these days, but whatever the impact that AI has on brand output and the models that support it, the broadest view is that those who prevail will be those who can prove their value in what can’t be commodified – and a major currency here is the cultural connection that allows agile networks to more quickly surface trend to table for the consumer palette.

A Hybrid Future?
This shift certainly doesn’t mean the end of bigger structures. For some brands, network agencies will always remain critical for scale, governance, and cross-market consistency. But even here, the relationship is changing. Increasingly, brands are maintaining a core relationship with a larger agency while simultaneously drawing on independents for creative sprints, cultural relevance, or specialised expertise.

This pattern is not lost on those who shape and control the agency landscape at its upper echelons. Some of the more progressive holding groups are incubating smaller, agile sub-brands and sanctioning acquisition sprees in a bid to tap some of the agility and recapture lost ground, hoping to persuade their clients that they need not leave the comfort of their shiny offices completely.

So what…?
For some time now, a brand’s agency stable is no longer about exclusivity. Instead, it’s about orchestration – knowing which partners to bring in, when, and for what purpose. The winners are the brands that are learning how to delicately curate dynamic ecosystems of talent, rather than tethering themselves to a single structure.

So, the record has changed. The question for brands is no longer who is our agency of record, but how do we calibrate our agency relationships to match the rapid rhythm of culture?