• by Fern Siegel , September 3, 2024

Citizen Inside has an ambitious goal: transforming the in-house agency model.

The new Minneapolis-based company works with clients in several ways. One is from a consulting perspective, evaluating an organization’s business needs, objectives and current ecosystem. This means examining the organizational structure, talent, workflow streams and tech stack — the focus is modernizing an in-house agency.

Citizen Inside then builds out the agency. (The ANA reported that 82% of their members had in-house agencies in 2023.)

For those without an in-house agency, it can custom design, create and operate one. Think of it as the client's agency, with Citizen Inside's people.

Based in Minneapolis, Citizen Inside was founded by industry veterans Jeffrey Gorder, CEO and EJ McNulty, Chief Creative Officer.

Previous clients of Gorder include General Mills, CompTIA, Tractor Supply Co. and Central Garden & Pet.

Gorder said: “We believe marketing leaders who embrace new technologies and make strategic decisions to retain their scalable content and embed media IP within their organizations will have a measurable competitive advantage. Citizen Inside is a partner that can create and maximize these opportunities, while delivering an efficient and modern approach.”

Citizen Inside launches as a member of the Dawn network, a portfolio of independent, specialist marketing services agencies with centralized data science, advanced analytics and economic measurement services. It can utilize the $4.5B global spend of the network’s media planning and buying for its media alliance arm.

Previously, Gorder was Oliver’s Chief Growth Officer in North America. He helped launch its in-house consulting practice and led consulting initiatives for numerous Fortune 500 companies. He also worked at ad/branding agency Mono, supporting clients such as Target, Google and Apple.

Prior to Citizen Inside, McNulty spent 12 years at Wunderman Thompson, most recently as executive creative director, North America, spearheading creative efforts for Best Buy, Sherwin Williams and Chevron-Texaco.