quick questions

Manulife/John Hancock's Chris Potts on Building an In-House Agency and Selling it Internally

For those thinking of starting an in-house agency or are part of one, keep reading to see tips from this AVP of Global Head of Demand Generation & Marketing Measurement.

  1. Are there certain industries that might benefit greater from moving their marketing in-house?

I think in-housing is an opportunity for any sector, and it is working well for us as a leading international financial services group. We’ve observed significant advantages to moving in-house, including speed-to-market and improved data sharing. High-velocity industries (e.g., CPG) would also benefit from in-housing in a similar way, with the potential to utilize first-party data to draw insights and prompt swift actions.

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    Do you have any advice for those that are just starting to build their in-house agencies?

It is incredibly important to ensure alignment upfront by including your stakeholders and/or partners in the process. Understanding their demands and requirements will help inform design of org charts, scope/remit, etc. After initial launch, it’s important to be transparent and clearly communicate at every stage so that all parties know what is changing, what is being enhanced as business cases are developed, and the team is built. And with transparency comes the need for gathering feedback and continuing to iterate and innovate to make things better. For example, at Manulife/John Hancock, we quickly realized the value of investing in the right technology and training to allow for automated reporting, saving significant time and freeing up resources.

  1. You mentioned during your presentation at our Data & Programmatic Summit in August, that your team reports measurement across 12 markets. How were you able to work with different teams to give consistent numbers across markets?

We did this by focusing on three key things to stay aligned: 1) Agreement on measurement fundamentals and frameworks. 2) Regular meetings to chat through insights and share thoughts. And 3) Technology to automate data collection via APIs and present data/information via dashboards.

  1. Is there an in-house agency from another company that you think does great work and you admire?

I truly admire all the in-house media teams I've seen present at conferences over the past few years. I understand the scope of work involved, and how rewarding it is to reach a point where the benefits of in house come to fruition.

  1. How should in-house agencies sell themselves to colleagues that are used to working with an external agency?

  1. Transparency: The organization has control of everything it does, and with that comes complete transparency on technology fees, operational processes, campaign management, and team utilization.

  2. Accountability: Be transparent with what you are trying to accomplish, what you achieve, and what needs to be improved. This establishes and builds trust, helping your in-house agency to become a partner, just as any external agency would aim to do.

  3. Performance: It is important to have clear, understandable, and consistent reporting that showcases the good and the bad. Knowing what's working well is great. It's equally as important to understand what didn't work, to optimize your campaigns. "Fail" isn't a dirty word.

  4. Ownership: Technology and data play a huge part in driving performance. By in-housing, you own both, which drives performance and mitigate risks.

If you’re interested in submitting content for future editions, please reach out to our Managing Editor, Barbie Romero at Barbie@MediaPost.com

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