AMI co-founders look to launch rival body for independents after being removed by AIA
Martin Woolley and Paul Phelps, co-founders and chairs of the Alliance of Media Independents (AMI), have been removed from their voluntary roles. It follows a dispute about how the AMI is run as part of the Alliance of Independent Agencies (AIA).
In an email to AMI members viewed by The Media Leader and dated 4 September, Woolley wrote:
You may have had an email from the Alliance this morning, along the lines that I have stepped down as chair of AMI. If this seems strange, that’s because it is! Paul Phelps and I were just ‘sacked’ by the Alliance [of Independent Agencies] (from our entirely voluntary roles!) because they did not like our vision for AMI and what it could become.”
AMI was founded in January as a subdivision within the AIA. It came about from a partnership between the AIA, founded in 2018, and the Land of Independents, founded in 2020. The group launched with 10 member agencies but quickly expanded to more than 40, with aggregate billings above £1.6bn annually.
AMI members are formally members of the AIA and pay fees into the wider alliance rather than AMI directly.
This structure has created friction, as Woolley laid out in his email to AMI members. He and Phelps “felt compelled to act” in part because “any value we create goes directly to [AIA’s] P&L. We have no control over that income.”
In the email, Woolley wrote that the AIA “often concentrate[s] on its own priorities which don’t benefit us”, such as awards, an expansion of operations in the Middle East, and non-media agencies.
He also alleged the AIA “had promised that any AMI-related revenue would be made available to us for projects”, but that “to date we have seen none of this.”
The email goes on to state that AMI’s leadership believes the organisation should be “member-owned”.
The Media Leader understands Woolley and Phelps first proposed moving AMI out from under AIA at a meeting with AIA founder and co-chair Clive Mishon in April.
Proposals included turning AMI into a joint partnership with the AIA. Another involved creating a “cross-over period” in which revenue from the AIA would eventually be moved into revenue from AMI as it split off into its own independent organisation. The AIA ultimately rejected both ideas, and Woolley characterised the negotiations as “extremely frustrating”.
Woolley and Phelps now intend to create their own independent media agency collective.
Mishon confirmed AIA leadership had asked Woolley and Phelps to step down last month. He told The Media Leader that if the duo are looking to set up their own group independent of the AIA, and it offers complementary services, it “would have our support”.
However, he added, it would be a conflict of interest for the duo to be in leadership positions at the AIA while also soliciting AIA members to join a separate alliance.
“We couldn’t be in a position where someone within our organisation was asking our members to leave and join another,” Mishon said.
In the email sent to AMI members, Woolley and Phelps revealed they did indeed intend to set up a new collective of indie agencies separate from the AIA.
“Paul and I are willing to go it alone and build something bigger, better and stronger, owned by all of us collectively,” the email read. “We haven’t scratched the surface of the benefits we can create for our agencies and our bottom lines.
“The new entity will need to be staffed and properly constituted — we have already been thinking about this and are comfortable it’s achievable.”
Mishon said AMI, meanwhile, will move forward, “business as usual”, with its extant partners and member agencies.
Last year, ITV and AMI partnered to launch a multi-million-pound commercial partnership known as the AMI & ITV Backing Business Fund. AMI also has partnerships with data company Experian and data platform Evorra, offering its members access to data and audience capabilities previously only available to holding groups.
The Media Leader partnered with the AIA and its member agencies this year to launch the “Challenger Stage” at its Future of Media London event, and Woolley remains an active member of the event’s advisory board. Taking place on 4 November at King’s Place in London, the half-day stage will deliver a dedicated programme designed specifically for independent agencies.
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