And to admit something like that, in Agency Land, is a cardinal sin. A sign of weakness. Oh, sure, you'll get one or two who know what they're doing. That's expected when you make as broad a sweeping generalization as I just did. Action without true motivation.
Ad agencies are never be first to lead, but almost always the second to follow.
It's a generational thing. Sort of like Luke Skywalker discovering that Darth Vader was actually his Dad. That's not to say all net shops are strategically driven wizards. Lord knows that the lion's share of net shops were founded by frustrated graphic artists. But their agenda are far more realistic than the ad agencies', mainly out of necessity.