How do creative agencies get paid?
Most modern creative agencies use retainer or project-fee pricing. The legacy 15% media commission model still exists at holding-company agencies handling large paid media budgets, but is rare in the independent creative-agency world. Some hybrid arrangements exist: retainer plus performance bonuses tied to campaign outcomes.
Why this matters
This question shows up regularly in Google's People Also Ask for the "creative agency" query, which is a signal that buyers in this space are asking it constantly during their research phase. The answer above is written from The Wall's editorial position — we index 2,286 verified US growth-services vendors across 10 pillars and see how these questions map to actual buying decisions.
If you're evaluating vendors in this category, the Creative Strategy pillar page has the full US firm list with rates, team sizes, and headquarters filters.