#20: Acadia CEO Jared Belsky on Growth, Ethics, and the Mid-Market
Agency Business · Brian Wieser and Olivia Morley
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Show Notes
Jared Belsky, CEO and co-founder of Acadia, joins co-hosts Olivia Morley and Brian Wieser to talk about building a mid-market agency at scale and why he’s become one of the industry’s most vocal critics of principal-based media buying.
Jared shares what led him to co-found Acadia after leading 360i, and why the firm has centered its business model around operational efficiency, cultural values, and a diversified client base. He explains why Acadia has no VPs, how it’s maintained 9% unwanted turnover, and why staying private has helped the agency say no to misaligned opportunities — including a $150 million account.
He also breaks down why principal-based media buying is, in his view, a “reprehensible” practice that undermines client trust and how opacity around these deals is enabling broader normalization of rebates, fraud, and poor media outcomes.
Plus, Olivia, Brian, and Jared discuss:
- Publicis’ disclosed 21% 2024 employee churn and what that signals about the talent market
- The holding company’s acquisition of sports marketing agency Adopt and where it fits within Publicis Connected Media
- ANA’s latest findings on AOR tenure, and whether the real takeaway is that fewer clients are signing AORs to begin with.
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