Australian In-House Agency Landscape Report

The In-House Agency Council (IHAC) has partnered with Kantar to publish ‘Australian In-House Agency Landscape’, the country’s first research report focussed on the state of the in-house agency model within Australia.

To provide a holistic view of the industry, the IHAC surveyed client side marketers, in-house agency personnel and external agency personnel. The research aims to provide a benchmark study to understand the current landscape of in-housing in Australia, including the experience of operating an in-house agency, wider industry attitudes towards in-house agencies and the future of the marketing model.

Below is an excerpt from the survey, the full 31 page document can be downloaded by completing the form below.

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In-House Agency Penetration

Research conducted in June 2021 reveals penetration of in-house agencies in Australia is sitting at 67%, showing the move towards this model is well underway in Australia. Of the 33% of brands that currently don’t have an in-house agency, nearly half (14%) are considering it.

IHAC founder and chairman, Chris Maxwell, says: “In 2018, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in the U.S did a similar survey and we have used it as a comparison point to give context to our results. Our latest research figures related to penetration of the model show that Australia is much further along than anyone expected, and only about five years behind the U.S market.

The Benefits of an In-House Agency

Survey respondents mentioned an average of 9.3 benefits of having an in-house agency (IHA) including better knowledge of brands, cost efficiencies, speed and agility, also consistency of output, overall ease of working with and greater control over your own data.

The Challenges of an In-House Agency

The model is not without its challenges, with managing workflow, project prioritisation and expanding capabilities some of the primary challenges.

Helping our members overcome these challenges is why we exist; to work together, share best practices and learn from each other. When your biggest challenges are issues such as managing workflows, the prioritisation of key projects, and expanding capabilities, it tells us that internal clients are increasingly trusting IHA teams with more work.

In-House Marketers Satisfaction

In terms of in-house agency (IHA) satisfaction, research suggests it is high with 86% of survey responders reporting to be satisfied, 7% neutral and only 7% dissatisfied. Compared with external agencies, marketers are much more likely to be satisfied with the performance of their in-house agencies versus external agencies: 86% for IHA versus 64% for external. They are also four times more likely to be 'completely satisfied' with the performance of their in-house agency (21%), compared to external (5%).