# AI Is Rewriting the Economics of Marketing Agencies — and the Fixed Retainer May Be Its First Casualty

- Link: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/pr-news/ai-is-rewriting-the-economics-of-marketing-agencies-and-the-fixed-retainer-may-be-its-first-casualty
- Published: 2026-09-14T20:37:00+07:00
- Author: Media OutReach

#### _As AI cuts production costs and multiplies the output of small agency teams, a new model is emerging in Singapore: revenue-sharing, where the agency earns only when the client sells._

SINGAPORE – [Media OutReach Newswire ](https://www.media-outreach.com/)– 14 September
2026 – For decades, the marketing agency business model has rested on one assumption:
producing campaigns is expensive, so clients must pay fixed monthly retainers regardless
of results. Artificial intelligence is dismantling that assumption from two directions
at once — cutting what it costs an agency to operate, while multiplying what a small
team can produce.

 The savings start in places clients never see. Administrative work that once consumed
billable hours — invoicing and quotations, client reporting, campaign documentation,
scheduling and follow-ups — can now run largely on AI systems, stripping overhead
out of every account an agency manages.

 The bigger shift is in production itself. In video, AI now handles the foundation
of the edit — assembling rough cuts, syncing footage, generating captions and preparing
ad-ready variations — before a human editor applies the judgment, pacing and finishing
that machines can’t. What once took an editor days takes hours. The same applies
to design and ad creatives. The result: a small team’s production capacity multiplies
while its cost per campaign falls.

 That double effect — lower cost, higher capacity — changes what an agency can afford
to offer. When servicing an account no longer carries heavy fixed costs, those economics
can be passed on to the customer: instead of a large retainer that pays for activity,
the agency can charge a minimal base fee and earn its real income as a share of 
the sales its campaigns generate.

 Singapore agency [touchmkt](https://www.touchmkt.com) has built its business on
this model, charging SME clients a low base retainer that roughly covers production,
then earning 5–9% of the revenue attributed to its campaigns — tracked through conversion
tools that tie each sale back to the ads that produced it.

 “The economics simply didn’t work before,” said Charlie Tan, founder of touchmkt.“
If every account carries thousands of dollars in production and admin costs, you
have to charge for it whether the campaigns perform or not. When AI takes out the
cost and multiplies the output, you can afford to be paid on outcomes. For the first
time, the agency’s goals and the client’s goals are actually aligned — we only do
well when they sell.”

 The model does demand discipline: rigorous attribution, and the agency absorbing
the risk of campaigns that underperform. But for small businesses long wary of paying
retainers for activity rather than results, the direction is clear — AI hasn’t just
changed how marketing is made; it’s beginning to change how it’s paid for.

Hashtag: #touchmkt #MarketingAgency #AI #Singapore #SME #DigitalMarketing

[https://www.touchmkt.com](https://www.touchmkt.com)
[https://www.facebook.com/people/touchmktai/61589325994905/#](https://www.facebook.com/people/touchmktai/61589325994905/#)
[https://www.instagram.com/touchmkt.sg/](https://www.instagram.com/touchmkt.sg/)

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

#### Touchmarket LLP

>  [touchmkt](https://www.touchmkt.com) (TouchMarket LLP) is a Singapore-based growth
> agency for small and medium businesses, combining on-site videography and photography
> with AI-assisted content production and performance advertising. The agency builds
> websites, produces short-form video and branded social content, and manages Meta
> and Google ad campaigns with full conversion tracking — operating on a performance-
> based model in which its fees are tied to the sales revenue its campaigns generate.
> touchmkt works with clients across F&B and catering, education, beauty and skincare,
> renovation and home services, and professional services in Singapore. Learn more
> at [touchmkt.com](http://touchmkt.com/) or contact biz@touchmkt.com.

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**Source** : [AI Is Rewriting the Economics of Marketing Agencies — and the Fixed Retainer May Be Its First Casualty](https://www.media-outreach.com/news/singapore/2026/09/14/487398/?rand=186006)

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  |  This article was produced by Media OutReach, our trusted news partner. The views expressed and the content presented here are solely those of the author and may not reflect the opinions of Thailand Business News. |

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