Commentary

In-Housing Isn't Agencies' Biggest Challenge -- It's Growth

by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, June 19, 2019

It's interesting to see the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) coming out strongly against the hype surrounding in-housing.

Its researchers have started out by looking at creativity where some of the loudest noises about in-housing have been heard recently, and came to the conclusion that aligns pretty much perfectly with …

advertiser-agency relationship, advertising, agency, london, research, search, uk

1 comment about "In-Housing Isn't Agencies' Biggest Challenge -- It's Growth".

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Michael Farmer from Farmer & Company LLC, June 20, 2019 at 8:06 a.m.
Sean,
You absolutely nailed it.
Growth, rather than cost reduction, needs to be the new imperative.
Decades of agency cost reduction and ‘juniorization’ have crippled agency capabilities, making it more difficult for agencies to give meaningful transformation support to their clients.
So, to achieve higher levels of growth, agencies need to negotiate remuneration based on Scopes of Work (something that they do not do) and begin to upgrade their skills.
This means investment and more modest margins.
Agencies need the support of their holding company owners for this type of program. WPP under Mark Read is already heading in this direction.
Michael Farmer
Author, Madison Avenue Manslaughter

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