Paul Fitzgerald
Paul Fitzgerald

Most businesses have to work with marketing agencies, regardless of whether they like it. Agencies are hired to help businesses grow, but in reality, there is often a big gap between the client and the agency. Paul Fitzgerald, the founder of Barking Dog Marketing and a 20-year veteran of corporate marketing, says the problem is simple: "The truth is that 99% of agencies out there have never been in the client's shoes."

Fitzgerald says that this gap in experience makes agencies focus on execution, like SEO or paid ads, without really understanding the business strategy behind it. He saw this problem firsthand while managing marketing budgets worth millions of dollars for big brands like LG, Daikin, and Thermos. In 2017, he quit his job in the corporate world to start a new kind of agency based on the "dual perspective" of having been both the client and the service provider.

Barking Dog wasn't just founded so Fitzgerald could start his own business or because he just wanted to be an entrepreneur; he did it because he was frustrated. He worked in high-level marketing jobs for 20 years and saw agency after agency fail to understand the basics of running a business. "I've been in the GM's chair." He says, "I've grown a business. Most agencies are just executional; they'll only do SEO, paid ads, or content. We start with the business strategy, because brand strategy is business strategy, and you can't really pull the two apart."

This knowledge came from years of running business portfolios worth hundreds of millions of dollars for famous global brands. Fitzgerald had worked with "some really unbelievable marketing minds," but he always saw a gap between what agencies offered and what businesses really needed. It wasn't a lack of talent or creativity; it was a lack of perspective.

Fitzgerald took a big risk when he decided to leave his corporate job in 2017. It was a big deal for him personally. "I left the safety net of a steady corporate salary to raise a young family and pay off my mortgage," he says. But he was clear about what he wanted: "I wanted to start an agency that really understands what clients need."

That idea became the so-called "dual perspective." His approach is flexible and focused on results, unlike traditional agencies that stick to strict rules. Fitzgerald says, "We can be very flexible. It's not as simple as step one, step two, step three, and step four. We can be very flexible and will change to meet the needs of the business."

This flexibility lets the agency meet clients' immediate needs while also laying the groundwork for long-term strategies. Fitzgerald says, "We might start some performance marketing and digital campaigns while we work on the business strategy in the background. Sales fixes everything, so we make that speed and those quick wins because everyone wants quick wins."

This strategic approach is shown in the agency's client base. Barking Dog usually works with businesses that already have a marketing budget of at least $500,000. These are businesses that need more than just execution. Fitzgerald says, "Most businesses need strategic partners who think about the long term, get things done, and know what it's like to be a client."

The agency's plans to grow around the world show how well it's doing and how sure Fitzgerald is in the model he's built. Barking Dog is ready to grow internationally now that it has trademark protection in Australia, the UK, and the US. Fitzgerald wants to open an office in Europe because he thinks there is a growing need for strategic marketing partnerships around the world.

Fitzgerald says, "The global expansion shows that we want to double in size in the next 24 months." But this isn't just about how far you can reach; it's also about showing that an agency that really understands its clients can do well all over the world.

Barking Dog's success in reaching the multi-million dollar mark proves that this method works. It shows that companies are willing to pay a lot for agencies that really understand their problems and can provide both strategic advice and tactical execution.

Fitzgerald is getting ready to take his model global, and he's betting that the problems he had as a corporate executive are the same for everyone. If he's right, Barking Dog's growth could mean that marketing agencies will have to change the way they do business, so that understanding the client's point of view isn't just an advantage, but a must-have for success.