The vast majority, or 78%, of members of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), have some form of in-house agency, according to a new report by the group, which surveyed 412 client-side marketers. And many of those marketers who don’t already have internal agencies are considering the strategy. The ANA’s 2013 report found that just 58% of 203 marketers reported an in-house team.
Bob Liodice, chief executive of the ANA, expects the trend to continue to accelerate. “Traditional agencies are becoming increasingly challenged as marketers move more work in-house while encouraging their external agencies to provide differentiated services and increased value,” he said in a statement.
Liodice says the work is no longer limited to “low-hanging fruit,” such as promotional materials, or internal videos. Indeed, 76% of the in-house agencies handle creative work for brands, and 24% handle programmatic media buying.
The ANA report lists cost savings as one of the top benefits of in-house agencies. That is leading some marketers to move some functions in-house, even as they hire new shops.
Marketers credit internal agencies with maintaining brand consistency and allowing for better control. Andrew McKechnie, chief creative officer at Verizon, said in a statement that the brand’s new agency helps “connect the dots when we think about our brand narrative and brand experience.”
Agency executives say that doing everything internally will stunt creative growth, particularly from outside thinkers who add a new level of perspective to a marketing campaign. Also, many marketers have struggled to find a balance, agency execs say.
Source: Pasquarelli, A. (2018, October 15). New Report Cites Skyrocketing Growth of Internal Agencies. AdAge.