"It's rolled out, usually by senior ad execs, as a reminder that the responsibility for new business cannot, and must not, lie solely at the door of the small department that bears its name. Instead, it must be divided across an agency, with everyone feeling a degree of personal accountability for its delivery. In our industry, we are, as another well-worn phrase goes, 'all in the business of new business'."
"The scale of change that our industry is experiencing is bringing with it different answers for clients to consider. Briefs that once automatically left a client's desk in the direction of an agency, are increasingly going elsewhere. Some are staying in-house, with two-thirds of major multinationals now operating in-house agencies and a further 21% considering establishing one (World Federation of Advertisers & The Observatory, 2023 survey)."
"It's a phrase familiar to many working in the creative industries. Plainly, it's not true in the literal sense, but neither is it meant to be. It's rolled out, usually by senior ad execs, as a reminder that the responsibility for new business cannot, and must not, lie solely at the door of the small department that bears its name."
The phrase 'there's no such thing as a new business department' underscores that responsibility for winning clients must be shared across agency teams. Annual commercial targets create acute Q4 urgency for collective accountability. The industry faces structural change as more briefs bypass traditional agencies: some clients build in-house agencies—two-thirds of major multinationals now operate them and 21% are considering one—while others use AI to handle work before agencies see it. The market also remains crowded and over-serviced, with over 30,000 agencies in the UK, intensifying competition for new briefs.
Read at The Drum
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