Things aren’t always what they seem, especially when you head up an in-house creative team. Like those mission-critical projects that aren’t related to any mission in particular or, for that matter, terribly critical. Or when you deliver a final-cut video only to learn there’s an entirely different set of approvers that need to weigh in on it. (Good times.)
So it’s easy to see how you might be mistaken about another, bigger-picture item: Whether you’re running what can legitimately be called an in-house agency, or not. Find out by answering the following questions:
o Are you and your team part of strategic marketing planning sessions?
o Do you have a ‘menu’ of service offerings that clarifies the work your team does/doesn’t do?
o Are you trusted and respected by internal clients/stakeholders?
o Do you have account managers and others who insulate creatives so they can focus on execution?
o Are your people happy, confident and proud to execute the work they do?
o Do you proactively present creative ideas based on your knowledge of the business and understanding of customer needs?
o Are your team member’s salaries commensurate with those of their external agency counterparts?
o Do you execute large, integrated strategic campaigns?
o Are you able to attract and retain top-tier creative talent?
o Do you occasionally compete for work against external agencies?
You see where this is going, right? If you can’t answer Yes to all or most of the above, then you’re not running an internal agency so much as a creative services group/production studio/service bureau. That’s not necessarily a bad thing: It could be right in your sweet spot. Or just what your company needs. Or align perfectly with your team’s capabilities. And if any of those are the case, you might have the perfect setup.
But if not…if you’re chafing under the yoke of a system that seems more geared to having your team crank out lots of tactical materials than to coming up with strategic solutions to business problems, then you’ve got a choice: Either grin and bear it, hoping that things will change in time, with new leadership or both; or start looking into whether making a switch is right for your organization and how to make a case for doing so. There’s lots of great information out there, but the decision and the path ultimately depends on your specific set of circumstances.
Whatever you decide, take a stand. There’s nothing worse than a team — and a business — not knowing where they stand.