How to choose a marketing agency: models, criteria and process for large companies

How to choose a marketing agency at a large company comes down to a structured purchasing process: it starts from the business problem, defines the scope and compares partner models and candidates using criteria and weights agreed before any presentation. At multinationals, the process goes by agency selection or pitch. In Brazil, it is called a concorrência de agência (agency competition).

At companies operating in several markets, the choice involves marketing, procurement, finance, legal, technology and, often, global headquarters. A poorly prepared decision costs months of transition and a contract that is hard to correct.

Start with the problem, not the list of agencies

The first question is not which agency to hire, but what needs to change. Answer in writing:

• What business problem the agency will help solve.
• Which practices are in scope: brand, creative, production, media, data, website, social.
• Which markets and languages the operation covers, and who decides in each one: headquarters, the region or the country.
• What the internal team already does well and what will stay in-house.
• What the planned budget and contracting model are: retainer (a fixed monthly amount), project or vendor list.
• Whether the problem lies with the current agency or with the advertiser's own process.

The last question deserves attention. The Guiding Principles for Agency Selection, published in 2025 by the WFA (World Federation of Advertisers) and VoxComm (the global body for agencies), recommend evaluating and trying to fix the existing relationship before considering a pitch. When the diagnosis depends on data, a media audit carried out before the process turns perceptions into facts and improves the brief.

Network agency, independent, boutique, consultancy or in-house team

No model is superior in every case. The choice depends on the scope.

• Network agency (global holding company): presence in many countries, global contracts, media buying power and standardized processes. The common limits are the distance between the senior team at the pitch and the day-to-day team, and work split among several companies in the group. It makes sense when the company needs coordination across many markets under a single contract.
• Independent agency: direct access to the partners, faster decisions and fewer layers. The limits are scale in markets without its own operation and dependence on a few key people. It makes sense when the market is a priority and the scope is integrated.
• Specialized boutique: depth in one discipline, such as programmatic media, data or branding. Integration with the other practices becomes the advertiser's responsibility. It makes sense for well-defined problems.
• Business or technology consultancy: strong in diagnosis, transformation and systems implementation. The limit usually lies in ongoing creative execution. It makes sense for restructurings and for implementing marketing technology.
• In-house team: control, knowledge of the business and speed on recurring demands. The limits are fixed cost, the difficulty of attracting specialists and the risk of losing an outside view. It makes sense for recurring production and high-volume content.
• Hybrid model: an in-house team with one or more agencies, each with a defined role. It works when there is internal leadership capable of orchestrating partners. Without that, it becomes a sum of vendors with no one responsible for the result.

Agency or in-house: what stays inside and what goes outside

The decision between agency and in-house is rarely binary. What is recurring and depends on internal knowledge tends to stay inside. What requires rare specialization or variable scale tends to go outside. What is strategic, such as positioning and measurement, needs an internal owner even when a partner executes it. Groups with several brands need common rules so that in-house teams and agencies produce consistently, the topic of the article on brand governance at scale.

Selection criteria for large companies

• Relevant experience and verifiable cases: work on a similar problem, with a measured result and the possibility of speaking with the client cited.
• Senior team actually assigned: names, titles, percentage of dedication and the commitment to keep those people on the account.
• Integration across practices: how brand, media, data and website work together, who answers for the result and how conflicts between practices are resolved.
• Measurement approach: whether the agency separates platform-reported results from causal effect and proposes tests. The article on media incrementality details this criterion.
• Remuneration transparency and data ownership: who owns the ad accounts, the data and the assets produced, and how each source of agency revenue is declared.
• Information security and compliance: access policies, vendor management and handling of personal data. Under Brazil's General Data Protection Law (LGPD), an agency that processes data on the advertiser's behalf generally acts as an operator (processor) and must follow the controller's instructions. Procurement and legal verify this point before signing.
• Financial stability: financial health, dependence on a few clients and the capacity to absorb the advertiser's payment terms.
• Cultural fit: way of working and openness to disagreement.
• Operation in more than one language and market: a team that produces and reviews in the required languages and knows each country's regulation. The article on marketing in Brazil for global brands covers the Brazilian case.

How an agency pitch works, step by step

• Internal preparation: form the committee, define who decides, approve the brief with all areas and agree on criteria and weights.
• RFI (request for information): a short questionnaire for a long list, on structure, capabilities, clients, conflicts and compliance.
• Shortlist: the agencies with a real chance of winning.
• RFP (request for proposal): a complete brief, with objectives, scope, markets, reference budget, contracting model and evaluation criteria.
• Chemistry meetings: sessions with the team that will serve the account, to assess fit and way of thinking.
• Final presentation or pitch: a response to a real business challenge, with scope and format proportional to the size of the account.
• Evaluation with a scorecard: individual scores consolidated using the weights defined at the start.
• Negotiation: remuneration, scope, service levels, intellectual property, data, payment terms and exit clauses, before the announcement.
• Result and feedback: all participants informed on the same day, with objective feedback.
• Onboarding and transition: exit of the previous agency, transfer of accounts, data and assets, immersion of the new team.

Paid or unpaid pitch

In an unpaid pitch, the agency bears the cost of taking part. In its favor, it widens the number of candidates at no direct cost. Against it, it wastes resources, tends to reward the best presentation rather than the best service, and gives the advertiser no rights to the material.

The WFA and VoxComm guide notes that paying for a pitch rarely covers the agency's costs and works more as a gesture than as a reimbursement, and that payment does not transfer to the client any rights to the work presented, unless agreed in advance and expressly. The suggested alternative is to deepen the analysis in the RFI phase and pay the chosen agency for an initial project. The guide recommends that selection rest on evidence of competence, not on speculative plans.

What to ask in an agency RFP

• Who the people serving the account are, with what dedication, and what happens if any of them leaves.
• What similar cases the agency can show, with what metrics and which reference contact.
• How the agency integrates brand, media, data and website, and who answers for the final result.
• How the agency measures incremental effect and what it does when a test contradicts the platform.
• What remuneration model it proposes and what other revenue it may have linked to the account, such as media outlet incentives, technology margins or purchases as principal.
• Who will own the ad accounts, the data, the audiences and the source files.
• What information security and data protection policies the agency maintains.
• Which current clients could create a conflict of interest.
• How the agency operates in each market and language in scope.

Hypothetical example of a weighted scorecard

The following figures are illustrative and do not represent agencies, clients or market data. A committee defines seven criteria with weights adding up to 100%: experience and cases, 20%; senior team assigned, 20%; integration across practices, 15%; measurement, 15%; transparency and data, 10%; security and compliance, 10%; multi-market operation, 10%. Each criterion receives a score from 1 to 5. Before the evaluation, the committee also determines that a score below 3 in security and compliance eliminates the candidate.

Agency A receives 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 5 and 3. The weighted score is 0.8 + 0.6 + 0.6 + 0.45 + 0.4 + 0.5 + 0.3, which equals 3.65.

Agency B receives 3, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4 and 4. The weighted score is 0.6 + 1.0 + 0.6 + 0.6 + 0.4 + 0.4 + 0.4, which equals 4.0.

Agency C receives 5, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4 and 5. The weighted score is 1.0 + 0.8 + 0.45 + 0.6 + 0.3 + 0.4 + 0.5, which equals 4.05.

The correct reading is not that C won. The 0.05-point difference between C and B is too small to decide on its own. The scorecard eliminates A and shows where the finalists differ: B has the most senior team, C has the strongest cases. The decision between the two depends on the chemistry meetings, the references and the negotiation.

Search consultants and pitch guides

Agency search consultants help design the process, build the long list, standardize the evaluation and support the negotiation. The WFA and VoxComm guide acknowledges this support and adds a caveat: consultancies that sell several services may have a financial interest in recommending a pitch. Ask how the consultant is paid and whether it has a commercial relationship with any participant.

In Brazil, ABA, the Brazilian Association of Advertisers, adopted this guide and included good practice recommendations for the sustainability of the market. The Portuguese version has a section of recommendations that includes: treating a pitch as a strategic exception, inviting agencies with a real fit to the brief, setting viable deadlines, ensuring balanced commercial terms and giving structured feedback at the end.

Remuneration: what to consider in the choice

In Brazil, agency remuneration combines models such as fee, commission on media and bonuses paid by media outlets. In the choice, what matters is that the model be fully declared and comparable across candidates. The article on agency remuneration in Brazil explains each model.

Warning signs when choosing an agency

• The team presented in the pitch does not appear in the contract with names and dedication.
• The cases show awards and reach, but no verifiable business result.
• The proposal does not declare other revenue linked to the account.
• The agency resists leaving the advertiser as owner of the ad accounts and the data.
• The promise of results comes before any diagnosis.
• A price far below the other proposals with no difference in scope to explain it.
• On the advertiser's side: criteria defined after the presentations.

Frequently asked questions about how to choose a marketing agency

Network or independent agency: which should you choose?

It depends on the scope. Network agencies tend to make more sense for coordinating many countries under a single contract. Independents tend to make more sense when the market is a priority and access to the senior team weighs more than global coverage. In many cases, the answer is a hybrid model.

Should an agency pitch be paid?

When the advertiser asks for bespoke work, there are good reasons to pay. Payment rarely covers the agency's cost and does not transfer rights to the material without prior agreement. One alternative is to select on evidence of competence and pay the chosen agency for an initial project.

How long does an agency pitch take?

It depends on the scope, the number of markets, the areas involved and the approval process. Plan by phases: internal preparation, RFI, shortlist, RFP, chemistry meetings, final presentation, negotiation and transition. Internal preparation and negotiation are usually the most underestimated phases.

How many agencies should you invite to a pitch?

Enough for a real comparison, without inviting those with no chance of winning. The list shrinks at each phase, from the RFI to the finalists, and fewer participants allow a more in-depth evaluation.

Agency, consultancy or in-house team: how do you decide?

Separate the work by its nature. What is recurring and depends on internal knowledge tends to stay with the in-house team, what is specialized tends to go to an agency and systems implementation tends to go to a consultancy. What is strategic needs an internal owner in any model.

To turn this decision into a brief, Bait is available for a conversation about scope.