When Trust Breaks Down: Lessons from Publicis and The Trade Desk

Key Takeaways:

• Trust is the most important, and most undervalued, KPI in agency-client relationships. It’s a critical indicator of long-term growth, talent retention and margin.
• The shift to project-based contracts, tighter budgets and rising client expectations means agencies must prioritise trust over deliverables or short-term results to avoid relationship breakdowns.
• Whilst trust is the holy grail, it’s the hard-won outcome of consistent excellence around 4 key drivers: operational and executional rigour, client centric experience, strategic vision and innovation and a growth oriented partnership.
• Industry ‘transactional drag‘, where the urgent presides over the important and where long-term partnerships risk being reduced to short-term transactions, is the most significant enemy we observe to the overall client experience and levels of trust.

ROI, MQLs and project costs – these are the terms that most likely come to mind when KPIs are mentioned. Trust, on the other hand, doesn’t generally factor. Why would it? KPIs are meant to be concrete, measurable and objective – a far cry from the abstract concept of trust.

But the truth is, trust signals retention likelihood, churn risks and growth potential. It’s the foundation that long-lasting relationships are built on, the result of operational excellence. And, contrary to popular belief, it can be measured. Companies that do so are three times more likely to report strong profits.

Agencies that want to avoid relationship breakdowns need to stop treating it as a ‘nice to have’, and start making trust their most important commercial KPI.

Why Trust Matters More Than Ever Before 

Across media, PR and creative, the agency landscape is trending away from traditional retainer models and towards project-based contracts.

Clients are placing greater value on defined deliverables, budget certainty and shorter commitments. The proliferation of AI has only exacerbated this procurement culture, as clients use tools like ChatGPT or Claude to execute work they had previously relied on agencies for.

These shifts mean that agencies are expected to work with tight budgets and even tighter deadlines.

Meanwhile, a diminishing tolerance for disappointment is adding even more pressure. What typically took three rounds of ‘Active Detraction’ – rating an agency four out of 10 or lower – before an account was lost in 2020, only takes two today.

Post-COVID habits are no longer viable. Brands need to escape the trap of ‘transactional drag’ where short-term results are prioritised to the detriment of long-term relationship building. Instead, they must realise that their true value isn’t defined by deliverables, but by the expertise they offer, the confidence they instil and ultimately the trust they build.

The Publicis-Trade Desk Rift: A Lesson in Broken Trust

For 88% of buyers, trust is a deal breaker. But trust isn’t just crucial in the beginning of a relationship; it remains vital throughout. An inability to recognise this is what causes most relationships to fail.

The well-publicised dispute between Publicis and The Trade Desk, as explored by Emma Kelly, Global Head of Consultancy at Verity Relationship Intelligence in Performance Marketing World, is a prime example.

Earlier this year, Publicis alleged that The Trade Desk layered hidden fees into ad and media buying, resulting in a very public split. What lies beneath the jargon and corporate framing that surrounded the story is, at its most basic, a relationship breakdown.

As is so often the case, performance isn’t what raises flags; insufficient transparency and communication are. Clients can love the work  – but not the experience of working with the agency (and vice versa).

The Publicis vs Trade Desk spat highlights this, demonstrating the importance of alignment and notably, what can happen if it goes missing. Questions over additional fees and deliverables are a common occurrence in the industry. But a strong relationship promotes greater levels of forgiveness and understanding, so that when bumps in the road appear, which they will, you’re well-equipped to navigate them.

“No ecosystem can run purely on process. There will always be grey areas, imperfect information and moments of tension. In those moments, it’s not contracts or capabilities that carry the most weight. It’s trust.” – Emma Kelly, Global Head of Consultancy at Verity Relationship Intelligence.

The Business Value of Trust

When executives discuss commercial value, they often default to visible levers like pricing strategy, operational efficiency and procurement savings. Yet trust affects all of them.

Without trust, getting even great work out the door becomes difficult. Hence, trust is low, doubts creep in, listening becomes virtually non-existent and teams are left to contend with more amends, more rebriefs and more scope creep.

The result of these delays and doubled efforts isn’t just work that’s watered down or a team that’s overstretched; it’s squeezed margins and less profit.

The opposite is also true. High-trust relationships provide conditions where collaboration and creativity thrive, decisions happen faster, work is approved on the first round and, crucially, margins are higher.

Characteristics of High-Trust Relationships:

• Understanding: Agencies that don’t just get the brief, but get the business, are the ones who really know where their clients want to go and how to get them there. In fact, understanding is the number two driver of client satisfaction.
• Empathy: Once you understand your client, it becomes easier to put yourself in their proverbial shoes. Taking the time to consider their unique circumstances, goals and pressures provides vital insight into what’s important to them, and, by extension, how you should act. For example, a well-timed phone call is a welcome way to keep communication human.
• Consistency: As with all great accomplishments, trust doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and consistency. For agencies, that means delivering on promises day in and day out. This boils down to the experience you provide clients. Do they know what to expect? Can they trust you to show up with the same level of responsiveness every time?
• Equal footing: Imbalanced client-agency relationships are all too common.  One side controls the budget and therefore the decision-making power. The other is left to execute and follow instructions. If we look at this in terms of the Ego States Framework, it means that clients who have launched into critical parent mode must revert to an adult ego where they prioritise rational thinking. Likewise, agencies that have assumed the role of adapted children must do the same, enabling the adult-to-adult conversations that are critical for genuine collaboration.

In many ways, trust is about the beginning and the end for agency-client relationships. It is vital at the outset, enabling the establishment of a strong rapport, and it remains the key indicator of a relationship’s health over time. Relationships marked by high levels of trust are likely to flourish, leading to better commercial outcomes, whereas those lacking trust are prone to disintegration.

“While trust is the goal, it should be seen as the hard-won outcome of commitment to excellence across the whole spectrum of the client experience; from frictionless execution for today to active leadership towards tomorrow”– Emma Kelly,

Interested in learning more about client-agency relationships? Download our Relationship Report for a data-backed perspective on what makes an agency a trustworthy partner.