The news that John Lewis Partnership (including Waitrose) has created an in-house content agency was surprising - you mean they didn’t already have one? The best FMCG and retail brands think on their feet and make content that reacts to what’s going on.
But it’s not just about being reactive. Having great in-house creative improves marketing across the board. The everyday beating of the drum becomes louder than their competitors. Who’s already doing this well? Moju, Nice Wine, Surreal, What3words - and Heinz, on the bigger brand side.
It doesn't matter what you call it, in-house agency or not, having talented individuals that can improve the craft and quality of everyday marketing will give any brand a leg-up against competitors who don't have the same capabilities. It’s not an ‘instead of’ using agencies, but an ‘alongside’ agencies model.
Ad agencies are great - I would say that, running one - but they aren’t great for producing everything a business needs. That way - especially for smaller brands - lies expensive, slow-moving madness. In-house agency/creative teams aren’t just for big brands and retail giants.
Even as a challenger brand, you're competing with the deep pockets of the bigger players and all the other innovators in your space - stand-out creativity, repeated often, can be the differentiator. This point has been dined on many times, but it's blooming relevant, work that is deemed to be creative is 12x more effective. But that creativity can come from anywhere.
The insider experience of an in-house team is great - and the outside perspective of an agency complements this, especially when it comes to brand-level comms. They’re not in competition. I could be wrong, but I'm yet to see a brand where their in-house agency does their big brand level stuff.
So yeah, if you don't have great in-house creative capabilities already, then it should be high on your agenda. Then use agencies as something you can use strategically - bringing in strategy and creativity when you need that outside perspective.
