The deliverables trap
Paying an agency by the hour rewards them for being slow. Stop.
The hourly retainer is the single most misaligned contract in marketing. It pays a partner more the longer they take and the more people they put on the job. Efficiency becomes a threat to revenue.
Price the outcome, not the input
When work is scoped to a result - reach, response, pipeline, revenue - incentives finally align. The partner is rewarded for moving the number, not for filling a timesheet. AI-native production makes this possible, because output is no longer bottlenecked by headcount.
Boards understand this language. A campaign is not "120 hours of design." It is "a category position worth defending." Reframe the conversation, and creativity stops being a cost line and becomes an investment thesis.
Hoopla is an independent creative company. Tell us where you want to grow →
