In this op-ed, freelance creative director Adam Harriden discusses the advertising industry’s payment problem. And why the next generation are the ones paying the price.
I’ve just finished mentoring a group of emerging creatives through D&AD.
They’re sharp. Curious. Full of energy. The kind of people this industry depends on to stay relevant.
And if I’m honest, I’m not convinced we deserve them.
Because while we talk a lot about nurturing the next generation, what we don’t talk about is the system they’re walking into. A system that doesn’t just underpay creatives at the start — it undervalues them all the way through.
I’ve spent 30 years in this industry, across different cities, agencies, and clients. And there’s a pattern that hasn’t changed.
It starts the same way.
There’s always a pitch.
Always a “must-win.”
Always a tight turnaround.
And almost always, an unclear budget.
So you jump in.
You work late. Push the midnight hours. Bring your best thinking because that’s what you do. You care about the work. You want it to land.
And often, it does.
The work gets sold. The client buys in. The agency celebrates.
And then something shifts.
You move from being essential to win the work… to being a line item in a system.
You’re handed over to accounts. You’re placed on a 30-day payment term. And then you wait.
Thirty days becomes forty-five.
Forty-five becomes sixty.
And suddenly you’re chasing emails just to get paid for work that’s already been bought, sold, and delivered.
It’s not a one-off.
It’s a pattern.
I remember one project in particular.
A “must-win” pitch. Tight turnaround. Senior team pulled together quickly. A few long nights, a few early starts, the usual rhythm.
We helped land it.
A meaningful piece of business. Celebrated internally. Momentum across the agency.
Then came the process.
Scope conversations shifted. Deliverables stretched. Payment terms landed at 30 days.
And then quietly… nothing.
Invoices submitted.
Follow-ups sent.
Weeks passed.
At one point, I found myself chasing payment on work that had already gone live, work the client had approved, the agency had been paid for, and the business was already benefiting from.
That’s the moment it hits you.
Not the late nights. Not the pressure. That’s part of the job.
It’s the disconnect.
The gap between how critical you are when the work is needed… and how dispensable you become once it’s done.
And the most frustrating part is how normal it’s become.
We’ve built an industry where urgency is always real when it benefits the business, but flexibility only seems to exist when it comes to paying the people doing the work.
We’ll move mountains to hit a pitch deadline.
But when it comes to payment?
“It’s just how the system works.”
That system has a cost.
It burns people out. It creates financial pressure where there shouldn’t be any. It forces freelancers and independents to carry risk that should never sit with them.
And over time, it changes behaviour.
You start second-guessing what you say yes to. You start questioning whether the effort is worth the uncertainty. Or worse, you accept it as part of the deal.
But it shouldn’t be.
Because let’s be clear.
This industry knows how to value creativity. We sell it every day.
We just don’t consistently value the people creating it.
And that contradiction is catching up with us.
Because the same people being asked to “lean in” are the ones holding the standard of the work. The same people chasing invoices are the ones shaping the ideas that drive the business.
And if that equation keeps tipping in one direction, something breaks.
Not loudly. Quietly.
People leave. Standards slip. The work starts to feel familiar instead of fresh.
And we sit in rooms wondering why.
This isn’t about calling out one agency or one team. There are good people everywhere trying to do the right thing.
But good people operating inside a broken system don’t fix it.
Changing what’s normal does.
Pay people properly.
Pay them on time.
Be clear on scope before the work starts, not after it’s sold.
Because if we genuinely believe creativity is one of the most valuable assets in business, then the way we treat the people behind it should reflect that.
Right now, it doesn’t.
And until it does, this industry will keep asking more from creatives than it’s willing to give back.
