The senior–junior problem in NZ media agencies

Ron Sneddon

2 Apr 2026 · 4 min read

You were sold by the MD. You're serviced by someone two years out of uni. This isn't unique to your agency — it's how the model works.

This is the most common complaint I hear from NZ marketers: the pitch team and the service team are completely different people.

You met the Managing Director and the Strategy Director. They were impressive. They understood your business, asked sharp questions, and clearly had the experience to back up their recommendations.

Then you signed. And now your day-to-day contact is someone who graduated three years ago.

Why this happens

Agency economics require it. Senior people are expensive. They're used to win new business — which generates the revenue that pays everyone — but they can't be deployed across every client at a cost that makes sense for a retainer.

So the model works like this: senior people win the work, junior people service it, and senior people hover at the top of the account to handle escalations and annual reviews.

This isn't dishonest, exactly. But it's also not what you thought you were buying.

The problem with junior servicing

Junior account managers are often good at what they do. The issue isn't their ability — it's their experience and authority.

When a junior buys are overpriced, they often don't have the market context to know. When a brief is ambitious, they don't have the confidence to push back on the plan. When a media owner offers a deal that looks attractive on the surface, they don't have the experience to read the terms underneath.

This is where your budget gets eroded — not through bad intentions, but through inexperience operating inside a system that doesn't reward scrutiny.

What Super does differently

When you work with Super, you work with me. Not a team. Not a strategy director plus three account managers. Me.

That's a deliberate constraint on how many clients I work with. It's also the core of the proposition. Senior judgement isn't a feature — it's the only thing on offer.