What Australian marketers think of in-house agencies

Chris Pash
By Chris Pash | 27 August 2021
 
Credit: Aysegul Yahsi
The In-House Agency Council (IHAC), with Kantar, has published Australian In-House Agency Landscape, research on the state of the in-house agency model. 

The study and survey of more than 100 conducted in shows penetration of in-house agencies at 67%. Of the brands that don’t have an in-house agency, nearly half (14%) are considering it.

Chris Maxwell, IHAC founder and chairman: “In 2018, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in the U.S did a similar survey and we have used it as a comparison point to give context to our results. 
 
"Our latest research figures related to penetration of the model show that Australia is much further along than anyone expected, and only about five years behind the US market.”

The research showed 86% of survey responders reporting to be satisfied the their in-house agency, 7% neutral and 7% dissatisfied.
 
Compared with external agencies, marketers are more likely to be satisfied with the performance of their in-house agencies versus external agencies: 86% versus 64% for external. 
 
They are also four times more likely to be "completely satisfied" with the performance of their in-house agency (21%), compared to external (5%).

Marketers who have invested in an in-house list twice as many benefits (9.3) as marketers who have not (4.3).
 
Those without an in-house agency list 'set up costs' at the top of their list of challenges. Marketers with an in-house agency place this at the bottom of their list.    
 
Maxwell: “There are clear benefits including better knowledge of brands, cost efficiencies, speed and agility, but also consistency of output, overall ease of working with and greater control over your own data. 

“The model is not without its challenges, with managing workflow, project prioritisation and expanding capabilities some of the primary challenges.
 
“Helping our members overcome these challenges is why we exist; to work together, share best practices and learn from each other. When your biggest challenges are issues such as managing workflows, the prioritisation of key projects, and expanding capabilities, it tells us that internal clients are increasingly trusting IHA teams with more work.”      
 
inhouse agencies

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