CASE STUDY

Renewing the right agency relationship without a pitch

How Friends of the Earth used an independent media agency review and Partnership Reset Programme to reach a clear renewal decision.

By Andrew Livingston, Founder of Mosaic Advisory

Friends of the Earth was approaching renewal with its incumbent media agency. The relationship was valued, but FOE needed more than instinct to support another contract term. It wanted an independent view of whether the agency remained fit for purpose and, if it did, what needed to change.

Mosaic’s Independent Media Validation Review reached a clear conclusion: renew, with amendments. The Partnership Reset Programme then helped FOE agree those changes with the agency and carry them into the documents governing the next phase of the relationship. FOE renewed on clearer terms and avoided a pitch it did not need.

Does an agency renewal have to mean a pitch?

An agency pitch is the right answer when the evidence points to a need for change. It is not the automatic response to uncertainty at renewal.

Friends of the Earth’s question was not ‘should we find a new agency?’ It was ‘is this relationship still working, and if not, what do we fix?’ For a charity with a responsibility to use time and money carefully, a full pitch would have placed a significant burden on both teams. It also risked disrupting live work and a relationship Friends of the Earth still valued.

The decision needed enough rigour to give Friends of the Earth confidence, but no more process than the decision deserved.

What does an independent media agency review actually look at?

Mosaic reviewed the contract, scope, commercials and media reporting, and spoke to stakeholders on both sides. The question was not simply whether the agency was performing. It was whether the relationship around the work still gave both teams what they needed.

Not every problem belongs to the agency, and the review needed to be as honest about Friends of the Earth’s own set-up as it was about the incumbent.

Agreeing what needed to change

The evidence supported renewal, provided that Friends of the Earth addressed a defined set of issues covering commercial transparency, scope, measurement alignment and modern contract protections. Friends of the Earth then asked Mosaic to help turn that recommendation into a renewal it could stand behind.

Before approaching the agency, Mosaic worked with Friends of the Earth to agree its renewal position. The review recommendations were translated into clear priorities, sensible fallback positions and the documents in which each change would need to appear. This internal work gave Friends of the Earth a tested position before the negotiation began, and separated the changes that belonged in the contract from those better handled through the scope of work or the ongoing management of the relationship.

Reaching agreement with the agency

Mosaic acted as an independent intermediary for the renewal discussion. The purpose was not to reopen the whole relationship or construct a case against the incumbent agency. It was to agree a fair and workable basis for the next contract term.

The agency engaged constructively, moving substantially on commercial transparency and scope clarity while offering a workable position on newer contractual protections. Where its position remained firmer, that was recorded honestly rather than pushed to breaking point.

The discussion also confirmed that some concerns, particularly around measurement, could not fairly be attributed to the agency alone. Parts of the problem sat within Friends of the Earth’s own reporting systems. Keeping that visible made the negotiation more credible and gave the resulting actions a better chance of working.

Carrying the agreement into the renewal documents

Mosaic produced a working renewal map showing what had been agreed, where each change should be documented and what still required a client decision. It covered the revised scope of work, commercial schedule, contract amendments and media planning template.

This was not legal drafting, and it did not pretend to be. It gave Friends of the Earth what it needed to instruct the agency and its legal advisers without losing the substance of the review during the drafting process.

What changed

Five changes made it into the renewal package:

• The revised scope distinguished retained-team activity from programmatic management and clarified how strategic support would be provided.
• The commercial schedule and media planning template gave Friends of the Earth a clearer view of technology fees, management fees and working media.
• An AI addendum was agreed in principle, including protections around personal data, client-identifiable information and public-facing AI-generated content.
• Friends of the Earth secured prior disclosure and approval rights if agency-controlled media inventory or principal media routes were proposed.
• A measurement alignment session was agreed, with named owners and a formal review after the initial implementation period.

Not every point was presented as completely resolved. Where further client judgement or legal drafting was needed, the renewal map said so. That honesty was part of the value of the process.

“The work gave us greater clarity around the renewal and a practical way forward for strengthening the partnership.”

Liv Forster, Friends of the Earth

What this case shows

Good agency relationship management is not about protecting an incumbent relationship at any cost. It is about establishing what is working, what needs attention and whether the evidence supports renewal, reset or change.

A Reset Programme is appropriate when the relationship is worth keeping but specific commercial, operating or relationship issues need to be addressed. If the evidence points to a structural mismatch, a Fit-First Search is the more honest answer.

For Friends of the Earth, the independent review removed the false choice between passive renewal and a heavyweight pitch. The evidence supported continuation, and Reset ensured that renewal happened on clearer, more useful terms.