The Power of In-House Lies in Its People, Not Its Structure

Ask someone in marketing to describe the defining characteristics of a great in-house agency and they’ll probably mention agility, cost savings or maybe successful stewarding of the brand.

However, after having spent the past several years interviewing more than 50 senior in-house leaders for the Inside Jobs podcast, its clear that the most important differentiator isn’t operational at all. It’s all about the people.

And not just any people. The best in-house agency leaders, and the teams they build often in their image, are a fascinating, slightly paradoxical bunch. They come from wildly different backgrounds, but they share a surprisingly consistent set of traits that make them uniquely effective at working inside a brand.

Take Donovan Stohlberg, now leading creative services at Securian Financial. Donovan started out in theatre, directing plays before making the leap into corporate life. At first glance, that might raise a few eyebrows. But listen to him talk about his work and you’ll quickly realise that directing a cast isn’t that different from guiding stakeholders, shaping scripts isn’t far from shaping strategy, and storytelling. His success is shown in the fact that today his 30-person team is not only delivering creative, they’re driving culture.

That’s not a unique story. These people come from everywhere. Some are ex-agency leaders drawn by the promise of long-term brand-building. Others are client-side lifers who’ve picked up production and creative instincts by sheer necessity. Some (like a few guests we’ve had) started in architecture, or journalism, or UX before finding their way to creative leadership. No two paths look the same.

But what they have in common is clearly not a shared résumé, it’s a shared outlook. Across the board, three traits surface again, and again:

First, they are often humble though influential. Rarely the loudest in the room, but often the smartest. It’s a strange tightrope to walk. In-house teams don’t have the outside agency halo. They’re not usually seen as the experts in the room. That’s why the best ones become the experts, not by shouting louder, but by asking better questions. Beth Anne Mandia at TruStage talked about her team’s transformation from order-takers to strategic partners. Not through brute force, but through business fluency, creative confidence, and a willingness to challenge the brief with curiosity, not ego. A strategy flawlessly executed, and an accomplishment that is by no means exceptional among this cohort.

Second: they’re resilient. Being in-house means living inside the same walls as your clients. There’s no escape. You deal with the messy middle such conflicting priorities, last-minute pivots, and stakeholder layers that make a Jenga tower look stable. Kristine Kobe when at Keurig Dr Pepper’s in-house agency, Liquid Sunshine, had to merge two creative organisations post-acquisition. Imagine trying to unify cultures, toolsets, and expectations while still shipping work daily, and win awards off the back of it. She credits emotional intelligence and relentless communication as her secret weapons.

Third, and maybe this is the most important, they’re quietly proud of being in it for the long haul. There’s something different about building a brand from the inside. There’s less glory, maybe, but there’s more depth. Ekaterina Bueva, who leads Kraft Heinz’s network of global in-house teams, has built an operation that balances consistency with local flexibility. Her people aren’t in it for the case study, they’re definitely in it for the impact.

Of course, I’m not saying structure, technology, and process don’t matter, they obviously do. But you can’t build a great in-house agency by these alone. It has to start with the people who show up every day and fight for better briefs, clearer thinking, smarter strategy, and more resonant creativity.

So yes, admire the work. Benchmark the output. Debate the model. But if you really want to understand what makes a great in-house team, stop asking how they’re built. Ask who is behind them. Chances are, it’s someone with an unorthodox résumé, an unusual amount of patience, and an unwavering belief that building a brand from the inside isn’t Plan B, it’s the best plan there is.

Robert Berkeley is the co-founder of EKCS, Inc. and executive chairman of InnerGroup, with a lifetime dedicated to helping creative people do their best work. With over 20 years of experience supporting in-house agencies, he hosts the Inside Jobs Podcast, in conjunction with IHAF, where he interviews in-house agency leaders to share their stories, strategies, and innovations.