• by David Randolph , Columnist, May 7, 2018

It’s increasingly common for brands to feel disconnected with their media agency. Lackluster strategy and performance has pushed some CMOs to bring media management in-house. But the law of unintended consequences often rears its head, slowly yet pervasively.

Before in-housing media, ask yourself what problems are you trying to solve.

Do you suspect your agency team isn’t stocked with superstars? If so, demand substitutions or find another agency that will deliver. 

Do you believe you are being overcharged? Have a discussion with the senior leadership of your agency. You have the right to transparency and to explore new contract terms.

But if you’re at your wit’s end and you simply want to replace your agency with an in-house team, here are four significant factors to keep in mind: 

1. Recruiting and Retaining Talent

• Unless your headquarters is in a major ad market rich in talent, you’ll probably be relocating talent. The expense might be much higher than you anticipate.

• Media management is a specific skill with a clear career path at a media agency, but far less so on an in-house team. What’s the next rung in the ladder for your new hire? Superstars can be fickle and leave for higher salaries and titles.

2. Lack of Specialization

• In-house teams can only staff in increments of whole FTEs. Say goodbye to on-demand, a la carte expertise your agency can provide.

• In an era of bewilderingly complex digital media, your in-house team members will wear far too many hats to be effective and productive.

3. Tools and Mastering Them

• Great media agencies have a wide range of planning and research tools. The cost of these tools is amortized over dozens of clients. You’ll miss footing only a fraction of the bill, sized to your needs.

• Your in-house team will be competing with media agencies that work for your competitors. Your team will be up against media professionals with sophisticated tools and techniques to outmaneuver your programs.

4. Tunnel Vision

• Corporate in-house media staffers often get stuck in a rut while agencies rotate their employees regularly. Most agency employees are able to work on several accounts within a few years on the job, bringing fresh new perspectives to the table. It also diminishes turnover (See #1).

• Agencies can test, learn and share winning strategies across clients, especially if that agency has multiple accounts in the same business category. Your marketing team will have a sample size of one from which to innovate and improve.

With so much invested in your media budget, you will almost certainly compromise growth to save on some overhead. It’s pennywise and pound foolish for most. Very few in-house media teams have the firepower to deliver best-in-class media programs. An in-house team that saves thousands in overhead might miss out on millions in revenue opportunity.

Building an internal media agency inside your company is an all-consuming, multi-year initiative. It’s probably not the best place to focus your talents as well as the talents of your marketing team. It’s quite enough to be the masters of your customer analytics, brands, product road maps, promotions, financials and internal communications.  

Do you really want to take a crack at being David Ogilvy, too?