When Axel Dumont stepped down from his role as president of Cossette Media this summer, he did not turn his back on the agency world. Instead, he is looking to help the agency ecosystem work more smoothly through his new firm, Over the Rainbow Consultant Services.

Having been a president and a CEO at media organizations for more than 12 years in Canada, the U.S. and France, Dumont has witnessed first-hand how difficult collaboration can be sometimes. He says his new focus will be supporting agencies in better communicating with their partners, facilitating conversations between advertisers and shops, as well as advising platforms on how to best approach partnerships with media agencies.

“There is this idea of helping leaders, whether agencies or clients, to find solutions beyond the rainbow – solutions that add value to the relationship… [It’s about] helping media agencies bring more value in terms of how they operate and who they partner with.”

Being at an agency and looking after clients, talent and internal politics, Dumont found himself moving away from understanding the media agency ecosystem and where its future was headed.

“I believe [media] execution will be the first thing that will be automated,” he says. “Therefore, agencies should be investing in outsourcing the cost of activation and concentrate on client relationships, strategy and the expertise [they need to] oversee everything. In my mind, agencies should get out of what was their historical business, which is basically media buying.”