Future of Consumer Marketing

No Retainers, No Contracts: Performance-Only Agency Model


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In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira interviews Nadim Kuttab, CEO and Co-Founder of Xevio, a performance-based native advertising agency that's rewriting the rules of agency economics. In just three years, Xevio has grown to nearly $100 million in annual ad spend with a 50-person team across Europe, built on a radical premise: no retainers, no locked contracts, and pure performance-based fees. Operating in the relatively unknown native advertising space, Xevio has carved out a defensible niche by becoming best-in-class at a channel most marketers overlook. Through aggressive selectivity (rejecting 9 out of 10 client requests), transparent performance metrics, and heavy investment in AI infrastructure, they've built a model where both client churn and employee churn are remarkably low in an industry notorious for both.

Topics Discussed:
  • Building a performance-only agency model with no retainers or minimum commitments
  • Scaling native advertising campaigns to mid-six figures monthly spend
  • Operating with six co-founders and the dynamics of a large founding team
  • Creating pod-based team structures for specialized client management
  • Investing six figures per semester into proprietary AI tooling for campaign automation
  • Maintaining sub-10% client acceptance rates through rigorous qualification
  • Building company culture in a hybrid-remote European team with 50% office presence
  • Providing premium employee benefits (daily meals, unlimited transit, gym memberships) to minimize churn
  • Navigating the evolution of native advertising beyond traditional below-the-fold inventory
  • Managing geographic market selection based on native inventory availability
  • ...more
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    Future of Consumer MarketingBy The Global Talent Co.