Independent agencies face new frontier as agency-in-a-box tools democratize creativity

""It's cynical almost because it's the agencies that have built the advertising business together with Meta and TikTok and Google," said Rogier Vijverberg, founder and head of creative - or his formal title at the creative shop SuperHeroes, "chief creative hero." He added, "Now, they are competing with [advertisers] as well.""

"As it currently stands, agency budgets are at their lowest in 10 years, with the share of marketing budget going to agency fees reduced, according to Jay Wilson, vp analyst at Gartner. According to Gartner's 2025 CMO spend survey, 39% of CMOs plan to cut back on agency budgets this year. Meanwhile 22% of CMOs said generative AI has enabled them to reduce their reliance on eternal agency partners for creativity and strategy building, per the report."

"Meaning, cost savings and efficiency are in large part the appeal of AI-powered tools for small businesses. Already, companies like Poppy Flowers and Bartesian cocktail maker say they plan to rely more on generative AI-powered creative tools and less on creative agencies. Meanwhile, brands like Gorgie energy drinks, do creative work in-house and plan to continue to do so leveraging AI marketing tools. Michael Babyak, general manager of revenue operations at Poppy Flowers, estimates the company is saving $10,000 per month in agency fees by using tools like Claude and Nano Banana to generate on-brand content, data analysis and more. "AI lets us do 80% of the early creative work in-house - we can test messaging, imagery, tone, and performance befo""

Tech platforms are launching AI-powered agency-in-a-box tools that offer brand management, creative production, campaign execution and analytics for small- and medium-sized businesses. These tools prioritize cost savings and operational efficiency, enabling SMBs to test messaging, imagery, tone and performance internally. Agency budgets are at their lowest in a decade, with many CMOs planning cuts and some citing generative AI as a reason to reduce reliance on external creative partners. Several brands report shifting creative work in-house and realizing significant monthly fee savings. Independent creative shops face intensifying competition from tech platforms entering agency services.

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