Ogilvy veteran Patou Nuytemans has been tapped by the European Association of Communications Agencies for the new role of "ambassador for agency value."

She’s tasked with promoting new agency business models. The appointment follows the recent EACA and VoxComm report "Redesigning The Agency Value Model," which highlights challenges that AI is creating for agency pay models based on the number of people and amount of time put into client work. Instead, it urges agencies to package and price their expertise as “defined solutions” for clients.  

Nuytemans left Ogilvy last month after 30 years. Most recently she was CEO for the WPP agency network’s Europe, Middle East & Africa region.  

“Our work has value,” stated Njuytemans. But AI is forcing the agency world to create new compensation frameworks. “There is a lot of talk about paying for outcomes ... but we influence outcomes, we do not control them, and that is hard to make work in practice.”  

What matters, she added, “is that we move beyond input, beyond being paid for our time. Knowing what you are genuinely better at, packaging it, pricing it – that is a business muscle this industry has barely used, and it is the one that decides whether agencies thrive.”