How to choose your media agency? 2026 Comparison

Criteria	Model A Freelancer / Boutique	The Scale-up Choice Model B Jour de Chance	Model C Big 5 (Havas, Publicis...)
Agility & Speed	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Immediate	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Startup Speed	⭐ Heavy Processes
Media Buying Power	⭐ No Leverage	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Negotiated Net	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Massive Volume
360° Vision (On + Off)	⭐⭐ Often Pure-player	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Connected	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Siloed
Your Contact	Direct Expert	Direct Senior Expert	Junior Project Manager
Cost / ROI focus	Economical	Performance Driven	High Weight + Fees

The "Big 5" Problem

Major groups like Havas, Publicis, Dentsu, GroupM or Omnicom are designed to manage tens of millions of euros for historical Fortune 500 advertisers.

For a startup or scale-up, this often means being treated as a "small" client, staffed with junior teams and a structural inertia incompatible with fast growth cycles.

"Provoke your luck"

Jour de Chance was created to offer the sheer firepower and negotiated rates of large groups, while maintaining the agility and seniority of the best boutique agencies. We are not your service providers, we are your outsourced media department.

The 5 criteria that actually matter

Beyond the models, here is the checklist we recommend to every founder — even those who don't work with us:

Margin transparency. Ask for the "net/net": how much actually goes to media, how much to fees? An agency that won't answer has something to hide. Our free media audit regularly uncovers 15–30% of hidden costs for advertisers who join us.
Real seniority of the team. Who manages your budget day to day? Insist on meeting the person doing the work, not the one selling it.
Ability to mix online and offline. A digital pure-player will tell you TV is dead; a TV shop will tell you Meta is saturated. The truth lies in the mix — and in measuring each channel's real ROI.
Aligned incentives. Partially performance-based fees, no hidden lock-in, no unredistributed media-owner commissions.
Execution speed. Count the days between brief and first live campaign. Beyond 3 weeks for digital, your growth is waiting.

Questions to ask before signing

Which clients my size do you manage today? Can I talk to them?
How exactly are you paid (fees, % of media, media-owner commissions)?
Who will be my day-to-day contact, and what's their experience?
What reporting will I receive, how often, with which KPIs?
What happens if I want to stop in 3 months?
Can you show me a documented client case with real numbers?

A good agency answers these six questions without dodging. That's the standard we hold ourselves to — and the one you should hold everyone to.

Ready to change the model?

Stop choosing between agility and power. Take both.

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