The number of agencies in the UK alone has almost doubled over the last ten years, meaning that finding the right agency that understands your brand can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. Today, the Agency Ecosystem Map launches to tackle that exact problem.
A joint initiative by PI LIVE Europe and the Agency Advisory Board (AAB), the free resource brings together a diverse range of agencies in one space, categorised by the filters that matter most, from specialism and sector experience to industry trade body membership and engagement threshold.
A central global resource
Speaking about the launch, Matthew Wood, Founder and CEO of Hello Partner, explained that the ecosystem will be built out further each quarter.
“A central global resource for OPMs and agencies has been missing for a long time. The map doesn't just show which agencies offer which services and how they intersect with the creator economy, it also surfaces their trade body memberships, award wins and whether they'll be at PI LIVE, so you get a real sense of who you're dealing with before you reach out,” commented Wood.
Greg Baines, SVP at Gen3 Marketing, an agency featured in the ecosystem, echoed this: “Gen3 is proud to be part of the Hello Partner Agency Ecosystem Directory. As an AAB member and a global affiliate marketing agency, we believe brands deserve a clear, transparent way to find the right partners for their marketing needs, wherever in the world they're looking.”
Indeed, the ecosystem covers a range of regions, including the UK and Ireland, North America, Global, Europe, and APAC, with a wide range of specialism representation, including influencer and creator marketing; affiliate and partnership marketing; performance media/paid social and strategy/full-service digital. Further, the map surfaces Performance PR expertise — a growing focus for brands — SEO/ content & organic growth; B2B partnerships and CRM/loyalty and email.
Technology/Saas and platform services and retail media and commerce specialisms are also present in the directory, as is GEO/ AEO, an area of growing importance amidst the rise of LLMs in the path to purchase.
Diverse sectors and specialist agencies
Alongside this, the first 51 agencies in the ecosystem serve a breadth of sectors, 14 in total, ranging from retail and e-commerce and health and technology and Saas, to finance and fintech to sustainability and ESG, with the list also highlighting agency award winners.
And from larger agency players like Assembly Global and Essencemediacom, to smaller boutique and specialist agencies, like Lo Digital Digi Reach and Growth HQ, there’s a range of company sizes on the list.
“Smaller, specialist agencies are in high demand but harder to find. Who can you trust? Who works with brands in your industry? Who does more than bottom-funnel affiliate marketing?” commented Inez Miedema, CEO and Co-Founder, Growth HQ.
According to Miedema, most of the brands that Growth HQ talks to about its full-funnel affiliate strategies find the agency via its tech partners, current clients, and some AI inclusions.
“I love the idea of a directory to represent service providers from the largest multi-channel agencies to boutique agencies,” added Miedema.
Industry best practice
And as industry trade bodies like the APMA and PMA build out guidance, standards and best practices, the ecosystem also identifies whether agencies are members of certain trade bodies.
"When we first started mapping out the agency ecosystem with PI LIVE, it was really just a way to make sense of a space that had grown pretty chaotic - great agencies doing brilliant work, but no easy way for brands to actually find the right partner for them,” commented Kirsten Black, Co-founder of the AAB, adding: “Watching that turn into a proper directory feels like a genuine step forward for the channel.”
“What we like most is that flagging body membership like the APMA, PMA and AAB gives brands a tangible signal of credibility, and not just a name on a page. That kind of transparency is exactly what this industry needs more of,” said Black.
To learn more about the ecosystem map, head here, or to be featured, register your agency.
