I recently returned from the first of five In-House Agency Forum-hosted Huddle events – a series of discussion groups to tackle the complexities in-house agencies are facing with the rise of content marketing. As the Content Marketing Manager here at inMotionNow, I was eager to attend both to discuss content marketing practices and to learn about the challenges faced by the creative teams that we serve.
The Huddles kicked-off in Washington DC, with creatives from IHAF-member companies like GEICO, Marriott, Fannie Mae, Discovery Communication, and Ferguson Plumbing. The impressive roster of brands brought together in-house agencies with deep knowledge and a variety of approaches to managing branded content.
The conversation was wide-ranging, but here are some of the takeaways that I found particularly interesting:
“Who’s controlling the content?”
In-house agencies, especially those at large multi-national corporations, are challenged with silos inside of their organization. Several departments in an organization might be creating content but often there’s no unified strategy or even central repository. This leads to lots of “reinventing the wheel” because there’s no awareness of what content already exists.
In-house agencies don’t always want domination over creating content but just want to get a voice in its approval. They want a seat at the table with the external agencies who drive the overall messaging. There are concerns about brand standards not being met when non-designers take content creation into their own hands.
Opting out of the intake process
The intake process is a challenge for in-house agencies, who struggle with getting the information that they need when internal clients open projects or request work. Clients don’t always immediately understand why having detailed information or even an in-person conversation might be necessary at project kick-off. Creative teams need to move from taking orders to having conversations.
What do you think? Does your in-house agency have similar experiences?
It will be interesting to see what teams at the Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco events have to share – which experiences are universal and the innovative ways different teams around the country are managing their branded content.
If you would like to attend an upcoming Huddle event, click here to register.
About the Author
Shanna Oskin is the Content Marketing Manager at inMotionNow, where she researches and writes about workflow challenges faced by in-house creative teams.