Three words that rarely share a sentence - least of all in consultancy. Here's why they run everything we do at IKAg.
The agency world runs on relationships and gut feeling. We love that about it. But gut feeling gets expensive when careers and budgets are on the line. So we bring genuine care for the people behind the work, honesty where interests collide, and numbers where others guess.
Eighteen years in, we still love this strange, brilliant industry. Behind every agency is a founder who bet everything on it; behind every brand, a marketeer under real pressure. We take the humans as seriously as the numbers. That's not soft. That's the job.
We sit between brands and agencies. That seat only exists as long as both sides trust us - so we guard it fiercely. No commissions, no kickbacks, no pay-to-play. You pay only for the work. And we give honest advice, even when it costs us a deal.
The agency landscape is crowded and loud. We cut through it with COMPARE benchmarks - built on aggregated, anonymized figures from 1200+ agencies - and 18 years of project data. When we give advice, we can show you why. In a sector that runs on the loudest voice in the room, we brought a spreadsheet.
Plenty of people will help you pick an agency. Very few have nothing to gain from which one you pick. That difference is worth more than it sounds - here's what it buys you.
Yes, we're pitch consultants. And yes, we know what agencies say about pitch consultants. Here is exactly where we stand - hold us to every line.
This thinking runs deeper than a pitch. We've also written down, in detail, how we believe agency remuneration should work: how we think about remuneration systems →
Benchmarks and pitches only work if people share real data - real margins, real rates, real budgets, real strategy. We put that data to work, but only ever aggregated and anonymized. Here's exactly what that means, for agencies and brands alike.
Everything you share in a pitch, a COMPARE intake or a coaching conversation is treated as confidential from the first minute. We'll sign an NDA whenever you ask - but we behave as if one is always in place.
Your credentials, cases, pricing and strategy are never passed to another agency. Not during a pitch, not after one, not "anonymized as an example". What you show us stays between us and the client you showed it for.
COMPARE data only ever surfaces as aggregated, anonymized benchmarks - and only in groups large enough that no number can be traced back to your agency. Your P&L is a data point, never an exhibit.
What we learn coaching your leadership or advising on your sale never informs a pitch we run - and vice versa. One engagement, one room. Our own team works under the same rule.
Yes, we put what we learn to work - that's how benchmarks exist. Aggregated, anonymized and pooled with hundreds of others, your numbers come back to you as market insight you couldn't get anywhere else. Value out, never secrets out.
Every commitment we make must survive being read aloud to both sides of the table at once. If it can't, we don't make it. Simple, and surprisingly clarifying.
If we ever have to choose between winning a deal and keeping your trust - we keep your trust. It's the only asset this business actually runs on.
Advice grounded in real data, an independent referee with no hidden agenda - and agencies that show up with their best work because they trust the process.
Explore what we do for brands For agency founders & leadersHonest feedback, benchmarks that respect your confidentiality, and someone in your corner when you grow, restructure or sell.
Explore what we do for agenciesThis page is a promise, not decoration. Read something here we don't live up to? Tell us - we mean that.