The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has found that the pandemic has accelerated the trend to the tune of 57% among multinational companies.

There is an upward trend of companies opting for an in-house or inside agency model. The future will see dedicated and bespoke agencies that are within the client businesses' ability to integrate with — and even influence the client’s entire marketing ecosystems

They can bring inside ideas and inside intelligence, providing a faster and more transparent way to fulfil marketing needs. This is with an agile client-agency relationship rather than the client doing it themselves.

With the in-house adoption curve becoming more extreme, it's difficult for brands to suddenly have to build or run their own agencies; it's not within their core competencies.

That's why more and more companies will look to companies to help gather and garner the companies inside intelligence and make sense of all of the data.

Sometimes companies are too close to their own problems, business and data, so they can't actually see it without the help of external viewpoints. 

Building 'Inside intelligence' involves tailoring the bespoke model to every client's business through a blend of talent, teamwork and technology — and then optimising it for speed. This ensures the client gets outstanding creative that's delivered fast and delivers great results. The more ideas you generate, the more you understand the clients’ pain points. 

Now more than ever in this age of digital, in-house marketing teams need speed and agility and an in-house setup that can be scaled. It needs to be rapid and a lot more agile, which is capable of doing all things digital.

With the explosion of digital, the list of skills needed for an in-house scenario could include multi-channel creativity that goes across multiple platforms, as well as:
  • SEO and content marketing
  • UX design (for better agility)
  • social media marketing
  • data analytics
  • augmented reality
  • production
  • as well as e-commerce, and
  • virtual shopper capabilities.
But not all in-house models are the same. And in-house does not necessarily mean on-site in these pandemic times. 

More and more companies are considering the in-house model because brands are under pressure from a capital and speed point of view, and everyone's under pressure from a consistency and quality point of view. Therefore, an in-house agency model is ideal.

The in-house model solves the money thing to a large degree. It solves the speed because you've got dedicated 'always on' teams with higher degrees of consistency and fast turn-around times. If necessary, they can push out an entire campaign in a day.

Consolidate the agency outputs and have fewer people working on the brands who are inside the brand teams. This brings all kinds of tools to the fore that are needed, while effectively doing it faster and cheaper with consistency; plus, you get a bespoke built solution.

An outsourced agency can bring the best talent in-house that will be completely immersed in the client's business. The team will push the boundaries, build great brands and win awards — which is what they are paying an agency for.

And because they are closer to their clients, they will have a better understanding of the DNA of each of the brands that they work with and there is less of a knowledge gap between the brand and agency.

While it might be cheaper in the short term to own all the resources yourself and create an in-house agency within your company, you will be left to question the calibre of creativity that are you attracting. Growth, retainment and development will also become challenges.

For more information, visit www.oliver.agency