In-house agencies grew during COVID-19

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of in-house agencies grew, as did the number of in-house agency employees, according to the latest Productivity and the Pandemic report released by the In-House Agency Forum (IHAF). The report, which was conducted in partnership with Forrester research, consisted of 265 companies, including Caterpillar, Experian, HP Inc., Nestlé and PwC. Of all the companies surveyed, 77% said they have in-house agencies—up 7% since 2019. According to the report, 47 percent of in-house agencies said they added to their roster, while 38% remained the same. Data indicated 80 percent of companies reported they brought more marketing assignments in-house, with 50% saying the increase was triggered directly by the pandemic. This shows that in-house media executives have the opportunity to use digital media strategy, ad tech and data to take control of their media budgets and programs, according to Jay Pattisall, principal analyst at Forrester. “Ultimately, marketers want a better understanding of how media budgets are spent. In-house media expertise provides that visibility,” Pattisall said in a statement. The suspension of live events and experimential marketing led to 71 percent of the in-house agencies surveyed to shift their focus from traditional print to digital media. “In-house teams were prepared to handle the near-total shift to digital that happened over the course of the pandemic, and they did it without missing a beat," said Emily Foster, IHAF director. Switching to remote work was just one of many other places in-house agencies saw improvements. According to the report, 37% reported an increase in the amount of work produced, and 47% maintained pre-pandemic productivity. More than two-thirds said virtual team meetings were equally or more efficient than those in-person. And 50% reported improvements in project operations. “Without the spontaneous brainstorming and camaraderie that results from being surrounded by other creative minds, internal and external agencies need to find new ways to enable organic ideation and collaboration,” says organizational strategist and in-house expert Marta Stiglin. These trends are likely to continue as respondents, according to the report, which found that only 9 percent of in-house agencies returned to in-person work full-time in 2021. No other in-house agencies surveyed are expected to be fully on site in 2022.

In-house agencies grew during COVID-19

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