Why Major Brands Are Hiring Agencies On LinkedIn—And Dividing The Industry

When a handful of small brands turned to LinkedIn to search for new agencies late last year, some industry insiders dismissed it as a fad not likely to take off with large marketers. Famous last words.

In the past few weeks, VF Corporation’s The North Face and Nike’s Jordan, two brands housed by massive publicly traded companies, hopped on the trend. Marketing executives at the companies posted to LinkedIn their desire to hire new agency partners and encouraged shops to reach out—which they did in droves.

The North Face and Jordan follow brands including MrBeast’s Feastables and Heineken’s Beyond Beer, which launched agency searches late last year via the social platform most commonly used for professional networking, accelerating what some industry executives see as a shift in how brands form partnerships with shops.

The tactic is gathering a mixed bag of reactions from executives in the industry, including agency leaders and consultants. Some argue this is not an effective way to find the right partner and risks wasting the time of everyone involved, while others tout it as innovative and a possible way to save money.

“Folks always overreact when the status quo is challenged,” said Mitchell Caplan, a marketing operations and agency relationship management consultant at business transformation firm Chameleon Collective, who called the negative backlash “shortsighted.”

Feelings aside, the practice is indicative of a changing landscape in which brand marketers looking to hire different types of agencies are seeking alternative ways to make those connections rather than the traditional route of costly, time-consuming consultant-led pitches.

Natalie Brooks, a senior manager of digital production at The North Face, originally posted on LinkedIn an announcement for a “nationwide RFP” to hire “a studio for our digital e-commerce creative and operational needs.” The post has since been edited to reflect that the RFP was closed and that the brand “will not be able to respond to all messages and requests, but the team will vet partners and reach out accordingly.” Maddie Grandbois, a freelance creative director for The North Face, made a corresponding announcement in a post that has been edited similarly. Combined, the posts garnered more than 1,200 comments.

Benjamin Kaplan, a senior creative director, global brand creative, Jordan Brand, also recently said in a LinkedIn post that he was seeking creative agencies specializing in seasonal retail storytelling, retail and brand activations and events. The post drummed up 962 comments before it was seemingly taken down.

Nike declined to comment on the LinkedIn post and The North Face did not return requests for comment. Ad Age reached out to Brooks, Grandbois and Kaplan but did not receive responses. LinkedIn also declined to comment.

The North Face post in particular seemed to ruffle some feathers in the industry, with certain consultants and agency executives coming out to criticize these LinkedIn agency searches broadly.

Sunday Dinner Founder Lindsey Slaby questioned what she called “the open cattle-call format” in a comment on Grandbois’ LinkedIn post for The North Face.

“TNF has historically selected partners who match its high creative standards—this approach feels like a departure,” Slaby wrote. “Without structured criteria, the result is a flood of responses where many firms likely don’t understand the ask.”

Slaby, who told Ad Age she stands by the message she shared on LinkedIn, also added in her comment that these types of callouts have attracted a slew of responses from agencies that may not necessarily be fit for the job. Consultants such as Slaby are hired to evaluate agencies’ fitness for a particular task before making recommendations to brands.

“It also forces agencies to position themselves broadly—without the necessary details—diluting both their credibility and TNF’s ability to evaluate them meaningfully,” she wrote. “This is the process agencies frequently criticize—one that shifts the burden onto them, leading to wasted time, misalignment and frustration. … If the goal is to find the right partner efficiently, this method seems counterproductive.”