Stagwell EMEA’s CEO: Challenging the global market - James Townsend

Today’s guest is James Townsend — CEO EMEA at Stagwell and also CEO of their Brand Performance Network. Stagwell is now a multi-billion dollar challenger to the established agency HoldCo.s, so how are they approaching growth differently to their competitors? In a word: adaptation — by embracing the evolving needs of modern clients. James describes how Stagwell’s digital-first structure aims to be the ‘Goldilocks’ of holding companies — that ‘just right’ size between up-scale indies and the more established HoldCo.s. He talks about combining creatives, strategists and over 1,500 engineers to focus on solving real-world client problems. And he’s got strong views on why some agencies get stuck in the past and how to avoid it.James also shares how Stagwell approached performance-based pricing, what he’s learnt from rivals like Publicis and Accenture, as well as how they cultivate their entrepreneurial spirit while scaling globally.HIGHLIGHTS [01:55] Building a ‘just-right’ sized agency[06:30] Choosing your clients [08:06] Listening to the market [11:21] Learning from mistakes [16:49] Changing how agencies get paid[21:44] Client-centricity in practice[22:37] The importance of traditional account handling[24:11] Learning from the big players[26:23] Focusing on business outcomes [30:48] Reasons to be optimisticMORE ABOUT JAMES:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/james-townsend-7329076/Website: stagwellglobal.comMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Project Spring: wfanet.org/leadership/project-springHOST SOCIALS:Linkedin:  linkedin.com/in/robinbonnTwitter: twitter.com/robonnMORE ABOUT CO:DEFINERY:codefinery.com