Clients have had the squeeze on agency budgets for decades of course but now it's being openly acknowledged. Even WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell has spoken publicly of it, which is a tacit admission that he doesn't know what to do about it. Now State Farm, a big US insurer and allegedly DDB Chicago's most pofitable account, is taking the shears to the agency's margins, following in the footsteps of McDonald's and Anheuser-Busch. What are agencies to do? Fees are a matter of supply and demand of course and the facts are that there are too many agencies chasing too little quality business. And now even the biggies like WPP and DDB owner Omnicom, who used to be able to charge a premium because of their global networks, can't any more. If your lead advertising's on the internet, who the hell needs a global network? People like Sir Frank Lowe of Lowe Group fame and the Saatchi brothers used to be able to charge a premium because clients were desperate to share their agencies' creativity, and their personal stardust. Who's got that now? Wieden & Kennedy? BBH? The names don't spring to mind very easily.