While once reserved for creative executions or niche expertise, In-House teams are no longer a trend– they are an essential part of the holistic marketing ecosystem. In fact, 82% of ANA members have a version of an in-house agency within their brand structures. Yet, the beauty lies in the differentiation of these structures; no two in-house agencies are identical. From creative strategy to social media management, it is becoming increasingly common for brands to bring in crucial marketing functions under their roofs.
Marketers today face a unique set of industry conditions and challenges, making the idea of in-housing ever more alluring.
- Media Supply Chain Scrutiny & Limited Transparency: With a surge in inventory scrutiny due to the volume of touchpoints, brands are demanding more transparency from their third-party agency partners today. Reducing the number of exchanges and owning technology contracts ensures Brands have greater control over media execution for increased effectiveness and efficiency
- Rise of AI & Media Automation: As AI based capabilities continue to expand their impact on media functions from channel mix to partner selection, brands can look at this as an opportunity to downsize external reliance on agency partnerships and expertise
- Data Privacy Concerns: Increased consumer privacy laws require brands to exercise greater ownership, control, and protection over first-party data. These legal requirements, along with advancements in democratized data consent management technology, have some brands looking to keep their precious consumer data under internal lock and key
- Speed and Flexibility: Agility and flexibility is a common goal of any brand looking to remain competitive in our real-time landscape, yet agencies stymie those endeavors by flooding the execution timeline with more processes and stage gates. By reducing external communication layers, brands can at least somewhat control their speed of execution and optimization
When deciding if in-housing is the correct path for your brand, a variety of considerations must be taken into account. Brands frequently underestimate the extent to which in-housing both impacts and is impacted by operational maturity and performance across a marketing organization’s people, processes, technology, and data.
Once an in-house model is implemented, a brand can realize numerous advantages. Key benefits include:
- Cost efficiencies and an increased ROI as a result of reduced agency overhead
- Dedicated staff with a deep knowledge of the brand
- Interconnectivity of resources that can unlock greater speed and efficiency
- Greater visibility into data management and buying platforms
- Firsthand access and control over audience insights, campaign performance metrics and customer behavior data
Much like our other beliefs when it comes to advancing a modern marketing organization, we reject the notion of a “one size fits all” approach. Trends and best practices should be acknowledged and appreciated, but not blindly followed when it comes to building an in-housing model. Retrofitting a generic approach can lead to wasted investment, technical debt, and operational headaches.
At Transparent, we reject cookie-cutter methodologies in favor of bespoke solutions tailored to each brand’s unique needs and capabilities. Our diagnostic approach assesses a brand’s readiness for in-housing to craft a personalized roadmap for operational success. Central to this approach are four core areas for in-house success: operations, skills & expertise, technology, and data.