The In-House Agency Council (IHAC), in partnership with IHAC members and transformation consultancy -lution, has released Australia’s first research study into the in-house media industry.
IHAC surveyed 24 in-house media professionals from brands including AFL, Asahi, Betfair, Employment Hero, Keypath Education, MYOB, Optus, Seek, Specsavers, Sportsbet, Treasury Wine Estates, TTI, and Youi.
The report revealed key facts around businesses that have chosen to bring some or all of their media in-house, the specific capabilities and tools required, the size and scope of the teams, and the benefits and challenges to the model.
The research found that brands are bringing a range of media capabilities in-house, from communications strategy to media planning, media trading, and analytics. For those surveyed, media budgets ranged from $1 million to over $100m per annum, averaging $35m.
In-house media is growing and will continue to grow. In fact, 75 per cent of teams have grown in the past 12 months, with 75 per cent expecting to grow again this year.
Almost nine-in-10 brands are running a hybrid model, partnering with external agencies. On average, 61 per cent of the total media budget is being managed in-house, with the remainder being managed by an external agency partner.
Digital channels are the most likely to be managed in-house, with social being the most common with 96 per cent of respondents managing in-house. Digital Video, Search, Digital Display are all around 80 per cent. Furthermore, 20 per cent to 40 per cent of respondents are also managing traditional channels in-house, including TV, OOH, radio and print.
The key benefits are increased effectiveness, improved efficiency, improved agility/speed to market and ownership of data. Brands rated their experience with in-house media teams as better than with external agencies on 9 out of 11 key factors, one was rated the same.
The key challenges are staying abreast of trends and innovation, recruiting, and retaining talent, along with the cost of technology and tools.
IHAC founder and chairman Chris Maxwell said, “In our research, we found that the benefits to brands bringing media in-house are many and varied, and while there are some challenges, consensus is that the benefits far outweigh the challenges.
“When asked what the primary challenge is, the most common answer was recruiting and retaining talent. For this reason, IHAC has created an In-House Careers Program where we help our members find and connect with talent who are looking for in-house roles.”
The research report was co-written by marketers -lution CEO and IHAC co-founder & chairman Chris Maxwell, Optus digital marketing director Vinetha Manthena, Youi head of marketing strategy, planning & insights Dave Annesley, Employment Hero head of growth marketing Alexander Concannon, and Treasury Wine Estates senior manager digital media Ben Oliver.
