An increasing amount of companies are bringing back in-house agencies – such as creative and digital – under the impression it will bring speed and deeper knowledge of brand values. But unfortunately for some, the benefits simply aren’t outweighing some of the risks and pitfalls that come with this strategy.

Why Bring it Back

Over the past decade, we are seeing a trend across the advertising and marketing industry where businesses are increasingly taking marketing matters into their own hands. Cost savings and having more control seem to be the biggest reasons why companies have been transitioning back to in-house agencies.

Many companies also believe that it will help integrate their values and beliefs across all platforms, but as some brands have already demonstrated, this may cause more issues than what the savings are worth.

The Unfortunate Challenges

As Pepsi has recently shown with their Kendall Jennar-starring ad, an in-house team may not always hit the mark. A considerable challenge of using an in-house agency is that it completely eliminates outside perspective, creating tunnel vision. Many criticized Pepsi’s ad to be ‘tone-deaf’ and ‘precisely the opposite of the real-world experience’ that was supposedly being portrayed.

Another downside to going in-house is creating a heavy work overload for the studio teams. Commonly those part of the in-house team are working on multiple other projects at the same time. This can make it difficult for them to make last minute or urgent changes.

With putting a heavy workload on the in-house team comes another great challenge, which is the difficulty of managing the many projects and tasks at hand and the pressures that come along with them.Team members can easily get burnt out, resulting in creative slumps or high staff turn-over.

Benefits of Outsourcing

Although creating an in-house agency may seem like the cost effective decision, outsourcing has more benefits in the long-run and for the company as a whole.

One of the greatest benefits of outsourcing is that you’re guaranteed a team of experts with extensive experience in the marketing field. Not only will they have the best experience, but they have the best tools and technology to go along with it. There is an extensive amount of marketing tools out there, and they can help you quickly identify which will be the most beneficial for your company, saving you an endless amount of time and money.

Another benefit that comes along with using an outside source is a fresh perspective. As previously mentioned, when using a team that work in-office they can get stuck using the same tactics or ideas over and over. Group think and tunnel vision can easily occur as well as falling victim to office politics. It’s always beneficial to have an impartial third party that can bring new and different ideas to the table.

Lastly, you completely eliminate the extensive processes of hiring and training. A good marketing partner will have a strong team committed to making the best decisions for your company. You can immediately start tackling strategy and making improvements rather than worrying about assembling a team of your own.

What We Can Do

Onimod Global can function as your own in-house agency with all the tools and expertise of an outside agency. We offer cross-channel digital marketing campaigns driven by machine learning analytics and human intelligence. Experts in SEO, SEM, website development, automation, manage your marketing 24/7, along with so much more. Check out what we have done for others and can do for you.