Zeena Kurd, General Manager, Boopin UAEIn theory, a scope of work is the backbone of any client-agency partnership – a contractual blueprint that lays out the work to be done, timelines, deliverables and costs. However, in reality, it’s the starting point of a journey filled with shifting priorities, unplanned demands disguised as ad hocs and an unspoken expectation for agencies to stretch beyond their remit – often without a proportional increase in fees or recognition.
With marketing shifting into an always-on, real-time ecosystem – led by data, performance and agile creative – the traditional scope of work (SOW), built for static campaigns and quarterly deliverables, no longer fits the bill.
One of the key issues lies in the procurement process. Requests for proposal (RFPs) are often awarded based on the lowest cost rather than the most accurate or strategic approach to address the requirement.
Agencies, pressured to win business, undersell themselves in the pitch stage, offering a minimal SOW to secure the contract, fully aware that additional tasks will emerge once the work begins. And they do. Almost all the time.
What starts as a monthly content plan soon balloons into influencer coordination, real-time community management, video production, event support, crisis management and strategy – without renegotiation. This ‘scope creep’ eats into resources, burns out teams and erodes the profitability and sustainability of agency work.
Agencies are not blameless either. In a competitive landscape, many still overpromise, presenting dream scopes with reduced rates and inflated expectations, hoping to ‘figure it out later’.
This might damage client trust and sets unrealistic industry standards. I’m sure most of us within the industry have seen those ads on Instagram selling an entire social media scope of 100 posts for AED 100 per month…
These trends create a distorted perception of the value of agency services. Clients begin to believe that high quality, strategic, creative work can be churned out at minimal cost, not realising the effort, expertise, talent and coordination it truly demands. As a result, teams become reactive rather than proactive, constantly firefighting and losing the headspace needed for creativity and innovation. So, what’s the way forward?
First, we need to move from fixed, outdated scope of work to dynamic, living documents – scopes that evolve with the needs of the brand and are revisited quarterly. Procurement teams should be trained in the nuances of modern marketing, understanding that today’s deliverables aren’t just outputs – they’re tied to performance, agility and integration.
Every deliverable today is more layered, whether it’s a 30-second video that needs to serve multiple platforms or a static visual that needs 10 versions and language adaptations. This complexity needs to be acknowledged in the scope.
Second, there must be more transparency in scope and pricing. Both sides need to engage in honest, data backed conversations about what’s possible within budget and what’s not. Hourly rates, resource mapping and output-based pricing models can help rebalance expectations, something we’ve been working on religiously at Boopin.
We’ve even introduced tiered SOWs for some clients, allowing them to adjust their expectations and deliverables monthly based on campaigns and needs or seasonality – a model that’s proven both scalable and fair.
Third, we must normalise mid-contract scope reviews. Just as performance is evaluated quarterly, so should scopes be. If a brand begins to require three times the deliverables within the same retainer, it should trigger a discussion, not become the new normal. Agencies must also build internal mechanisms to track scope creep and empower account leads to speak up when the line is crossed.
Finally, pitching itself needs a rethink. Clients must respect the intellectual property and effort agencies pour into pitches, while agencies should push back on unreasonable timelines or unrealistic asks without fear of losing the bid. True partnership starts with mutual respect – and that includes respecting the scope.
If we want to build a healthier ecosystem in the region, we need to stop treating the SOW as a formality and start treating it as a living agreement – one that protects the creative process, ensures fair compensation and delivers better outcomes for brands.
When scope matches reality, everyone wins: brands get better work, agencies thrive and teams are energised to keep pushing creative boundaries.
By Zeena Kurd, General Manager, Boopin UAE
