Howard Moggs has heard it all. “We work with clients big and small, across all categories.” “We create breakthrough work.” “We’re big agency talent in a small agency package.” After 25 years in the industry and hundreds of agency conversations, the founder and chief growth officer of Team Uncommon has a message for independent agencies: you sound like everybody else.
In IAN’s second Consultant Corner session, Moggs broke down the positioning traps that keep talented agencies stuck—and offered a practical framework for breaking the pattern.
The failure to focus
The first red flag Moggs spots when working with a new agency is a refusal to narrow. “When they say, ‘We work with clients big and small, across all categories’—major red flag,” he says. “It’s not possible for an agency to be an expert in every type of client, business model, size, scale, category.”
The math is blunt. There are 39,000 advertising agencies in the United States. An agency that’s a seven out of ten at everything will lose to a competitor that’s a 9.5 at one thing. Focus beats range every time.
The commodity trap
Most agencies lead with services—”full-service creative agency”—then layer on what they believe are differentiators. Moggs works with 15 agencies right now and speaks to three to five more every week. The same language keeps showing up: ambitious clients, breakthrough work, unfair share of culture.
“They all sound the same,” he says. The fix isn’t adding more claims. It’s reordering the conversation. Lead with the client’s problem, the outcome you deliver and the type of business you serve. Then bring the philosophy.
“You have to put the parachute on the back of the CMO,” Moggs explains. Agencies asking clients to be bold without first proving they can deliver the results that keep a marketing leader employed are asking someone to jump out of a plane without a reason.
Look for horizontal patterns
Moggs’ differentiation framework starts with the client list. Not verticals—horizontals. Are most of your clients premium brands? PE-backed mid-market scale-ups? Challengers? Market leaders protecting their position?
“Look for the patterns and the points of connectivity, horizontally, across categories,” he says. Then examine problems. Most agencies discover that 70% of their work solves the same three to five problems—and those projects carry higher margins because the team has muscle memory.
He pointed to his own experience repositioning Team One, which was known as “the Lexus agency.” Rather than fighting that reputation, they leaned into the horizontal—premium and luxury brands in commoditized categories—and built a positioning around making those brands worth paying more for. The lesson: build reputation on effectiveness and substance first. Bring the style second.
What CMOs are listening for
From the brand side, Moggs says the first thing CMOs should evaluate is whether an agency has solved their specific business problem—not whether they’ve worked in the category. He cites his mentor and colleague Rishad Tobaccowala, who notes that Toyota and Ford were too busy competing with each other to see Tesla and Uber coming. Innovation, Moggs argues, comes from outside the category.
The red flag for marketers? “When you see agencies say, ‘We drive business results.’ Well, I hope so,” Moggs says. “But when you’re not specific about that type of business result, that’s a red flag.”
The quick fire truth
Moggs wrapped with rapid-fire answers that landed hard. The biggest lie agencies tell themselves about positioning? “That they’re different.” And for indies specifically: “‘We’re big agency talent in a small agency package’ tells people you’re cheap. Procurement wants cheap. Clients want effectiveness.”
When you know positioning is working? “Conversion rate north of 50%.”
And the parting shot that reframes the whole conversation: “So many agencies come to me and tell me they need more leads. They think it’s a sales problem. And 99% of the time, it’s positioning.”
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