Business Growth

Content and inspiration to enable agencies to thrive and prosper in the long term

Helping IPA members drive profitable growth is at the core of the Commercial Leadership Group's purpose. Our ambition is to help agencies grow in the long term. To be profitable and sustainable.

Working with the IPA Commercial Leadership Group

Advertising and the advertising industry have changed shape hugely in recent years - with no sign of abating - and we recognise that we're presented with a clear choice - lament the changes and try to justify our existence, or reinvent ourselves. The IPA Commercial Leadership Group, is, of course, choosing the latter option.

Jason Cobbold, CEO at BMB leads the Group comprising a number of IPA agency heads, in looking at how agencies can transform themselves. Some of the areas they're looking at include; what the advertising business can learn from others; what it sells and what its relationship with technology is.

The findings shape Group meetings, outputs, content and of course are at the forefront of our flagship IPA event the Business Growth Conference. The only event of its kind in our industry to focus purely on growth, the conference hosts some of the biggest names in our industry who reveal their new drivers for growth, how agencies like theirs will be appointed going forwards and how we’ll all have to change to deliver the “new” value.

Catch up on all IPA Business Growth Conference recordings

Our ambition is to help agencies grow in the long term. To be profitable and sustainable. We are here to help with bespoke networks, courses, publications, events and more.

Publications and Resources

The Good Pitch

Best-practice guidelines for agencies and clients to help develop a pitch process which is focused on delivering a fair and transparent approach, that all parties will benefit from.

Gaining the competitive edge

The report, based on a study of both quantitative and qualitative interviews with senior marcomms leaders, shows that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is fast becoming central to day-to-day decision-making.

The Future of Brand and Agency Relationships

This IPA report looks at the consumer and industry forces that will shape the future of marketing and reveals the agency business models we can expect to see in the next decade.

The Price of Success

The report defines the challenges, competitors, complexity and commercial reality facing businesses and how using a wide range of pricing models can drive agency growth.

Pricing for Success

Agencies should expand their thinking when it comes to pricing their services and products. This paper shows how to build effective commercial relationships with clients by expanding the ideas in "The Price of Success".

Partnering for Growth

This report seeks to understand the characteristics and contexts that can create long-term, mutually sustainable client/agency relationships.

Shift Happens

What the evolution of in-housing means for agencies in the entirety of the marketing ecosystem, including the role of the technology giants.

UK Economic Snapshot February 2024

Monthly economic snapshot produced by the Foresight Factory for the IPA Commercial Group.

Commercial Groups

The Commercial Leadership Group is one of the IPA’s three strategic leadership groups, in addition to the Effectiveness Leadership Group and Talent Leadership Group. Within the Commercial Pillar sit three specialist groups who champion the roles of Account Handlers, Finance and New Business and Marketing through their outputs.

Resources for Account Handlers

We've created a content hub with support and resources for this growth-driving key position in each agency.

Resources for New Business and Marketing Roles

Connect with the wider network and stay up-to-date on the outputs from the New Business and Marketing Group.

Learning to Drive Growth

The IPA Continuous Professional Development (CPD) learning programme has been designed to help you drive growth from within your agency. Courses and events particularly aimed at helping delegates focus on business growth include: