ADGEEK
How social changes the agency’s role and business model
We Are Social CEO Toby Southgate examines creator communities, client value and the economics of social work as brands move beyond campaign-led communication.
The conversation
Toby Southgate examines how social platforms and communities are changing the agency model. The conversation considers the different roles of influencers and makers, the implications for agency income and costs, and the case for investing in communities whose value is difficult to measure directly.
Southgate also discusses what clients can and cannot bring in house, how agencies remain useful as social becomes central to brand communication, and partnership models outside traditional holding-company structures.
Key Takeaways
- Southgate distinguishes influencer reach from maker and community fluency, choosing the combination to fit the brand rather than becoming a production or talent-management business.
- He considers how agencies can justify investment in communities whose value is difficult to measure directly.
- The conversation asks which agency capabilities clients cannot easily build in house.
- Southgate compares partnership models with traditional holding-company structures.
Additional subjects
Editorial analysis
An editorial interpretation of the conversation, distinguishing the guest’s arguments from verified business outcomes.
Choosing the problem before the channel
Toby Southgate challenges the assumption that social-led agencies must replace traditional lead agencies. His argument begins with human behaviour: how people share, learn and form relationships. Different brands and business problems still require different combinations of disciplines, including the stewardship of a long-standing brand platform. The relevant question is less which agency category wins than whether a team understands its role and can explain what makes its contribution distinctive.
Less scattered spending, more useful relationships
That principle makes platform strategy more selective, not more expansive. Southgate warns against scattering small sums across every available channel. Knowing the audience, the objective and what a brand can credibly say should determine where it participates. He also looks beyond rented platform audiences to events, partnerships and owned channels where brands can build more direct relationships. Speed remains useful, but a quick response to a trend can become an immediate credibility problem if the brand has no convincing reason to be there.
Creators, capabilities and in-housing
His discussion of creators draws another boundary. We Are Social has not set out to become either a decentralised production operation or a talent-management business. Reach, platform fluency and credibility in a particular community are different needs; the brand problem should determine the combination of people brought in. Southgate takes a similarly undogmatic view of in-housing. Clients can build useful capabilities themselves, while an agency can offer creative people the variety of categories, markets and collaborative problems that some want from their working lives.
The business of being selective
The commercial choices are equally conditional. Southgate describes more operational freedom within Plus Company while acknowledging that investment returns still matter. On fees, he is interested in outcome-based arrangements but recognises the difficulty of isolating agency impact and funding people before a reward arrives. Projects and retainers do not disappear from that picture. His growth prescription starts with looking after existing clients and becoming more selective about pitches. Clarity about the work an agency is right for becomes a practical defence against giving away valuable thinking in contests it should never have entered.
Questions & answers
Is every agency eventually a social agency?
Southgate treats social expertise as an understanding of people and culture, rather than a claim that one channel or agency category should replace every other discipline.
Why not maintain a brand presence on every available platform?
More platforms do not justify thinner spending everywhere. Southgate argues for choices grounded in audience, business objective and the brand’s credible role.
What is the value of channels a brand partly owns?
Brands can gain useful relationships through owned channels, events and partnerships as well as large social platforms; access to audiences and control of data are different questions.
What is different about reach, production skill and community credibility?
Influencer reach and a maker’s platform or community fluency solve different problems. Southgate explicitly rules out turning We Are Social into a volume production shop or talent-management business.
Why are outcome-linked agency fees difficult to design?
Outcome-based fees require an agreement about attribution and risk as well as ambition; Southgate expects a hybrid rather than an uncomplicated replacement for projects and retainers.
Sources & attribution
Original publisher audio (archived enclosure): Original publisher audio (archived enclosure).
Podcast episode on Spotify: Podcast episode on Spotify.
Podcast video on YouTube: Podcast video on YouTube.
Original publication: The Indian AdGeek, Episode 23, featuring Toby Southgate; original publisher date: 2026-04-12.
Method and attribution: This analysis and the five Q&As are editorial syntheses, not verbatim statements or substitutes for listening to the original conversation. Guest judgments, examples, forecasts and reported business metrics should not be confused with independently audited findings. Research timestamps do not represent podcast chapter timings.