In-House Agency Committee, Midwest Chapter

The In-House Agency, Midwest Chapter Committee is for client-side marketers that have or are looking to launch an in-house agency. While the external agency can be a crucial marketing partner, many client-side marketers look internally. An in-house agency can consist of full creative and/or media abilities, or focus on a particular tactic, such as social media, programmatic, or video production. This committee provides a forum for education, networking, and discussion that helps elevate individuals in their respective organizations, as well as advance the role in-house agencies play throughout the industry as a whole.

This committee helps program the ANA In-House Agency Conference. Presentations from the 2019 conference are available. The 2020 conference will occur May 18-20, 2020, at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Committee Chair:
Maureen Boyle, Senior Director, Creative Services & Events, Trunk Club

ANA staff managing the In-House Agency, Midwest Chapter Committee are Pamela Gross and Greg Wright.

 Discussion Topics

• Getting great creative
• In-house agencies (creative, media, social media, communications, etc.)
• Internal evaluations
• Measuring performance
• Creative/assignment briefs
• Managing integrated marketing communications programs
• Working with external agencies
• Video production
• Managing culture and staff
• Process excellence
• The cost/value equation
• Digital asset management

Leadership Initiatives

Managing In-House Agency Creative Content and Legal Concerns
ANA partnered with the Boston Consulting Group and Reed Smith to understand the top concerns in-house agencies have for both creative content development and legal issues.  This study identifies four primary issues in-house agencies have with creative content development: attracting top-tier in-house agency talent, keeping in-house agency talent energized, applying key marketing processes, and having healthy creative tension. Further, 16 legal issues were identified related to in-house agency work. Importantly, this study also provides strategies to address the concerns.

The Continued Rise of the In-House Agency
A new ANA study concludes that the number of marketers with in-house agencies has grown substantially and workloads for those agencies are increasing. In-house agencies provide a range of services, including strategy, creative for traditional media, creative for digital media, and media planning/buying. Services that have grown significantly in recent years are content marketing, creative strategy, data/marketing analytics, media strategy, programmatic media and social media.

In-House Agency Fact Book
The ANA In-House Agency Fact Book is comprised of some of the best client-side marketer in-house agencies in the world. The ANA In-House Agency Fact Book highlights the structure, capabilities, and operations of in-house agencies at ANA corporate member companies. The fact book serves as a reference point for other in-house agencies and those looking to learn more or start their own in-house agency. Each fact sheet explores an in-house agency's capabilities, organizational chart (where provided), and other key data points.