In or Out Housing

amp8220Dataamp8221 has of course been around for years but what we have now is of a different scale as well as being far richer and far more accessible than ever before amp160The challenge lies in finding a way to harness proprietary data to link it to external sources to unlock the insights within it and to turn it from a static inflexible beast into a dynamic actionable assetMedia agencies have long boasted of their analytic capabilities in some but not all cases with no small justification amp160Many of the large groups have invested in software and people for years amp160Media people tend to be numerate and they understand one of the key uses of marketing data the planning and evaluation of campaignsBut there are issues amp160First the data world spins at a frightening speed new approaches new technologies new entrants amp160Itamp8217s difficult to keep up especially for businesses whose core competencies lie elsewhereThen there are the giant platforms amp160Back in the day when the biggest vendors were people like News UK or ITV there was an argument that could be made for having an agency with scale to match the scale of those doing the sellingamp160 But Facebook Google and Amazon are in a different league amp160The biggest agency or group is simply not all that significant in terms of the percentage of the platformamp8217s business that they controlThereamp8217s scale then thereamp8217s scaleamp160 And if the agencyamp8217s scale counts for little you might as well use the platformsamp8217 phenomenal data capabilities to create cut and evaluate your own deals amp160Furthermore you can be more agile without a middleman involvedCertain advertisers have inhoused elements of the media function for years Many have tried variations around the theme and failed in large part because talented people preferred the variety of working on different accounts surrounded by likeminded professionalsBut as agency fees have fallen as a result of the media owner revenue stream slowing so more and more talented individuals have fallen out of agencies amp160A fair number didnamp8217t like the lack of transparency and the influence of agency deals over their plansWhatever the reasons media talent is no longer only to be found in the agenciesamp160 And where do these people go amp160Advertisers offer an attractive alternative amp160Weamp8217ve come some way from only a few years ago when one agency digital boss now at a platform sneeringly told me that advertisers would soon return to the amp8220expertsamp8221 as itamp8217s amp8220all more complicated than they thinkamp8221Finally thereamp8217s the amp8220Tamp8221 word amp160Trust amp160Can you trust an external agency with such a key business asset amp160What if they start to build multiclient aggregators that risk the integrity of your proprietary dataWhat if you decide at some future point to look at other agenciesItamp8217s much more complicated to change agencies when to do so involves unpicking a multilayered relationship one layer of which is responsible for managing your data assets and building systems involving other elements of the businessInhousing allows you to build your own systems inhouse amp160To use the asset to create partnerships with key vendors amp160To become more agile to react faster to build internal expertise amp160And to save on agency feesThe smarter agencies are realizing there really is no point in fighting inhousing amp160They39re far better off working collaboratively with the inhouse team adding value through rigorous and creative planningWhich is what they should have done years agoClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Brian Jacobs

Don’t’ Back Down; Double Down on DEI Investments - By Jack Myers

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Brian Jacobs

Don’t’ Back Down; Double Down on DEI Investments - By Jack Myers

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