Will 2026 be the year of the indie agency? With Martin Woolley and Paul Phelps

2026-01-19

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A year ago, the Alliance of Independent Agencies and the Land of Independents collaborated to launch a new initiative aimed at sharing knowledge and support for independent media agencies.Enter the Alliance of Media Independents (AMI), which has served as a single route to the indie media agency market for suppliers and media owners.The AMI has spent the last year expanding, now with over 30 members that represent combined billings that rival the global holding groups.Martin Woolley and Paul Phelps are co-founders and chairs of the AMI. Woolley...

A year ago, the Alliance of Independent Agencies and the Land of Independents collaborated to launch a new initiative aimed at sharing knowledge and support for independent media agencies.

Enter the Alliance of Media Independents (AMI), which has served as a single route to the indie media agency market for suppliers and media owners.

The AMI has spent the last year expanding, now with over 30 members that represent combined billings that rival the global holding groups.

Martin Woolley and Paul Phelps are co-founders and chairs of the AMI. Woolley also works as executive chair of indie media outfit What’s Possible Group, which owns agency The Specialist Works, and Phelps is CEO of AMS Media Group.

The duo sits down with host Jack Benjamin to discuss how and why the alliance was founded, the benefits its delivered to members, their plans for expansion, and why indies might be the beneficiaries of a consolidating agency landscape.

As Woolley points out, a few years ago there were “never indie-only pitch lists”. Now? “Half the pitches in our business are indie-only. So something’s changed.”

Highlights:

3:20: Why and how was the AMI created?

13:10: Benefits of the Alliance: Media owner interest, incremental growth, resource sharing.

23:00: Competing with holdcos: Loss of trust amid trading deals, lack of transparency.

29:02: Could clients leave agencies in favour of self-serve platforms?

35:20: Why 2026 will be the year of indies.

Related articles:

Shaping the industry’ next phase: One year on as AMI

Alliance of Media Independents announces Experian as first official partner

Alliance of Media Independents adds 16 members and doubles billings

Indie agencies team up for Alliance of Media Independents

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