The Top Five Reasons Brands are In-Housing Creative Ops

“The successful delivery of a marketing strategy is underpinned by a high-performing marketing operating model,” says Robin Charney, Partner at AAR, in the company’s recent report, Burning Platforms: how CMOs are navigating a changing marketing ecosystem.

“An effective operating model ensures that the people, partners, processes and platforms that make up the marketing ecosystem are operating efficiently to deliver growth strategy at pace.” 

One of the key additions to the UK’s marketing ecosystem in recent years has been the increasing popularity of the in-house agency model. This is where brands bring some or all their creative operations in-house. Several top brands have established in-house creative operations/agencies, including: 

·       Specsavers 

·       Boots 

·       TSB 

·       Unilever 

·       Channel 4 

·       AB InBev

·       Three mobile 

·       Deloitte 

·       Shelter 

·       Pernod Ricard 

·       Sky 

·       Co-op 

·       Lloyds Banking Group 

·       Lego

·       Google 

·       Sainsbury’s Bank 

·       Kraft Heinz 

·       Oatly 

·       Ann Summers 

·       Ryanair 

·       Confused.com 

This list includes some of the most prominent brands in the UK only – a list for the North American market would run into the hundreds.

So why is in-housing growing in popularity?

Is it about saving money? Is it because the rise of seemingly endless affordable martec platforms makes it easier to create and distribute (and repurpose) content in-house? Or is it purely because it’s easier for brands to get access to freelance creative talent that would have been locked away in agencies in a pre-Zoom, pre-Covid world? 

While there’s some truth to all of these, we’ve reviewed dozens of interviews with big-name agency heads and CMOs at Unilever, Specsavers and Sky, and interviewed key people at what3words, Boots, TSB, ScS and more, to give you the inside track on the real reasons CMOs and brands are bringing more creative work in-house.

Reason 1: Changing Customer Trends

Today’s digital-first customers are generating demand for huge volumes of digital content at every stage of their online journey, from social media interactions to FAQs and chatbot responses, to downloadable brochures or legal documents. The appetite for content is endless, across multiple channels, and preferably personalised and tailored to their preferences.

“In retail, we have to be always a step ahead of our competitors, and always in step or a step ahead of our customers,” says Boots CMO Pete Markey. “To do that, we need to be really fast at what we do. And actually, given the proliferation of channels we’re now in, from the resurgence of Snapchat to Meta to TikTok, we need more variants of content than ever before.” 

Keith Gulliver, Brand & Marketing Leader at TSB, agrees: “Today, delivering a personalisation strategy that keeps the customer at the heart of their experience with TSB has created demand for a huge volume of content to be available for every stage of the digital customer journey.” 

Reason 2: Speed and Agility 

Because of the sheer volume of content needed to satisfy today’s consumers, both Pete and Keith emphasise the need for speed and agility.

“It’s definitely about competitive edge and speed to market, particularly in retail,” says Pete. 

“The efficiency, speed and quality of the content supply chain is crucial for us,” adds Keith. 

“The autonomy and trust obtained by being an inside agency and working together with our brand partners is parallel to none,” adds Tom Evans, Head of Kraft Heinz’s in-house agency The Kitchen. “With that comes our ability to be nimble, react to cultural moments without the red tape and have business impact that matters.” 

Reason 3: Cost Effectiveness and Efficiency 

Most CMOs and heads of creative will tell you that cost is a key driver. But it’s not just about saving money.

 “I should add that cost reduction is not about making cuts, but about taking out unnecessary costs,” says Pete at Boots. “If you’re doing it just to cut costs, you’re looking at the wrong thing. You’ve got to look at it multi-dimensionally.” 

In fact, expecting to set up an internal agency on the cheap is a fool’s errand. According to Simon Buglione, Managing Director Brand & Creative at Sky, brands should see cost efficiencies as “a benefit, not a driver”. 

Reason 4: Harnessing the Power of Internal Brand and Market Knowledge

Tom at Kraft Heinz mentioned the “autonomy and trust obtained by being an inside agency”, and

Ivan Pols, Chief Creative Officer at what3words, emphasises this point. “Marketing needs to be able to understand and communicate with the rest of the business,” he says. “Learn the objectives of the company. Learn the nuance.” 

By understanding the company and speaking in its language, you “also get their respect and understanding”, says Ivan. “By treating marketing as just one tool amongst several to help the company achieve its goals and by not being overly protective of it, you get to be taken seriously when marketing does need more budget, or you come up with a possibly game-changing idea.”

As Simon at Sky says: “When we do a campaign for Sky Sports, we really understand that brand. There is an inherent understanding that is important in content.” 

Reason 5: Unleashing the Power of Creativity Itself 

For many in the in-house agency world, Specsavers remains the benchmark and inspiration for what’s possible from in-house creatives.

“The World Economic Forum recently named creativity as the most important skill to have in your workplace, and we’ve got it in abundance,” says Nicola Wardell, Managing Director at Specsavers Creative. “Creativity is the fuel that supercharges our marketing activity – something we’ve been proudly doing in-house for decades.”

Everyone we interviewed had similar things to say about the power of creativity itself, including Ivan at what3words: “This is about unlocking the power of creativity within the business and making the whole business more creative and innovative.” 

Which Reason is Driving Your In-Housing Discussions? 

If you’re a CMO and the subject of in-housing creative operations isn’t already on your radar, it soon will be. But although the trend is becoming increasingly popular, it’s not without its pitfalls and challenges.

Talk to Agency Inside about the key reason for your brand – email cward@therivergroup.co.uk