The Rise and Future Direction of Brands’ In-House Agencies Is Revealed in Report from MikeTeevee

Brand owners are transforming into strategic creative content powerhouses and are taking brand creativity to new heights, according to ‘The In-house Evolution’ – a new insight report from MikeTeevee, a scalable creative production partner for in-house agencies.

In the last year, 81% of brands surveyed took responsibility for a brand campaign and 66.5% managed their own performance marketing, according to the report, which is based on in-depth interviews with senior marketing and creative leaders across global brands, including Pinterest, Uber, Citibank and Intuit.

With a growing number of brands adopting in-house creative practices, teams that began as generalists are fast-becoming specialist-driven, ‘The In-house Evolution’ also shows. As a result, in-house agencies working hand in hand with their marketing counterparts are now reshaping how brands communicate, adapt and thrive.

The findings also confound the view that brand owners in-house primarily to save costs. Creativity was considered the highest stakeholder priority among brands surveyed, achieving an average priority ranking of 2.2 out of 5. Cost efficiency (which scored an average priority ranking of 3.3 out of 5) was deemed less important than ROI (3.0 out of 5), and speed (2.9 out of 5).

Cultivating a hybrid ecosystem of internal and external talent is key for achieving sustained growth and creative excellence, the report reveals. Even so, finding the right partners and understanding how best to manage them remains a challenge.

Ellen Utrecht, founder of MikeTeevee, commented, “With the marketing landscape evolving at such a rapid pace, brands are seeking greater agility, efficiency, and creative ownership. It's inspiring to hear first-hand from in-house creative and marketing leaders whose deep knowledge, collaborative approach, and creatively impactful work are driving brands forward in an era of constant change.”

MikeTeevee, a pioneer of the creative in-housing model since 2011, is evolving to become a definitive force reshaping the industry. The company believes that the question is no longer whether in-house marketing and creative teams can compete with traditional agencies, it’s how far they will go in defining the future of brand storytelling.