The In-House Agency Council (IHAC), with consultancy -lution, has released research into Australia's in-house media industry.
Research involved surveying 24 in-house media professionals from brands including AFL, Asahi, Betfair, Employment Hero, Keypath Education, MYOB, Optus, Seek, Specsavers, Sportsbet, Treasury Wine Estates, TTI, Youi and more.
The report revealed 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 $1m to over $100m per annum, averaging $35m.
Three quarters (75%) of teams have grown in the past 12 months, with 75% expecting to grow again this year, while 87% of brands are running a hybrid model, partnering with external agencies. On average, 61% 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 the most common (96%); this was followed by Digital Video, Search and Digital Display all around 80%. A smaller ranger (20% to 40%) of respondents are also managing traditional channels in-house, including TV, OOH, radio and print.
The key benefits identified in the report for managing media in-house 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. The key challenges were cited to be 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 report is 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.
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