Agency In-Housing: For or against?

I went to The Marketing Society's Collide session expecting to pick a side by the end of the evening.

Throughout my 15-year Marketing Career, I have only been exposed to the “classical” model of agency and client being two separate entities. I was happy to hear new perspectives and open my mind to new ways of doing things.

As the discussion progressed, I realized that picking a side was not the real question.

We had a well-balanced panel with the two ends of the spectrum represented by both client and agency: On the one hand we had JLR's marketing director, Hannah Naji with Berardo Jun, MD at Spark 44 (a subsidiary of JLR) and presenting the other hand, EVP of Emirates NBD Bank, Vikram Krishna with FP7 Dubai's managing director, Jon Marchant. To balance things out, our 5th panelist was Michelle Walsh COO of Vox Cinemas who uses a hybrid model of in-housing and external agency use.

As Hannah and Bernardo described their model, we clearly felt the benefits of having both agency and client as part of the same business and governed by the same board. Such a set-up promotes open dialogue, candor and dedication. Not to mention working towards the same business goals that all serve one client. 

It seemed they had a very healthy and well-balanced relationship where an entire ecosystem is single-mindedly focused on advancing Jaguar and Land Rover business agenda. The keyword here was “dedication”.

The flip side of the coin, however, is a danger of complacency, lack of exposure to other industries, brands and businesses where familiarity might bring lethargy. Even if Spark44 employees have career growth opportunities within the group, they only work on two automotive brands and remain isolated from the rest of the world so to speak.

So, how can they make sure they remain innovative?

Vikram and Jon did not budge as Hannah and Bernardo were describing their near-perfect relationship. They too seemed to have a solid partnership where ENBD goals were the sole objective of FP7, as agencies are moving away from the “creative” model to the “business solution” model. When you add to that the possibility to continuously bring fresh perspectives to the table through a diverse client base, this too seems to be the right model with “partnership” as the key to success.

When Michelle spoke, the hybrid model seemed quite appealing too. Vox Cinemas do not wish to be agency managers.

They want to “live” and “breathe” the brand and the job. It’s all good until she mentioned that this comes with the danger of “burning people out” and having a never-ending loop of creating and promoting.

In the end, the take away is quite simple. There is no perfect model. 

The real question to ask is: how do agencies cope with modern marketing?

What is the right set-up that allows every marketing leader to both strategize internally and react promptly to the fast-evolving environment where we operate? If a business like Vox gets content from outside and focuses on promoting inside, this would not work for other companies where we need to create and promote fast while keeping our eyes on the long-term.

How does any big agency whether inside or outside its client structure ensure agility and fast pace? All big agencies seem to be trapped in the long cycle of content creation. They are still talking about a “long film” version for “digital” whereas consumers absorb advertising and content every second online and on their mobiles. So, what is presented to them needs to be designed with these new habits in mind.

Asmaa Quorrich, founder and CEO, Think Big Consulting