Advertising agency charges clients what they want to pay

A new advertising agency based in the US is adopting a business model that allows its customers to pay whatever they like for its services. Agency Nil offers freelance branding, media and advertising services drawn from a talent pool of recent graduates and professionals moving in-between jobs. The work is completed by the deadline requested, and then the client pays whatever they think the work is worth.

The only costs paid are those covering travel, production and proprietary research. But the company warns that if you offer nothing for the product, “it’s not likely that we will do work for you in the future … [But] we’ve yet to have that happen, ever”.

Hank Leber, Agency Nil founder, said in the AdFreak blog that the idea isn’t about short-changing workers. “This isn’t about undercutting anyone. It’s about supply and demand-honestly, I think this should’ve happened a long time ago.”

“The system has been terribly lopsided for a while now, and I hope this can be the start of a breaking point in the industry on some level. It won’t depress the market – the price will still come up and down, and work will get done just the same. Except now, it won’t be based on a set amount of hours to fill or stay under, and work can get done for work’s sake. For quality’s sake. For the client’s sake.”