In-House Agencies Winning In Digital Marketing

Nov. 20, 2012 - PRLog -- The hypothesis that the marketing industry would see in-house agencies steadily evolve and grow their role in digital marketing came to fruition at the IHAF Awards and Annual Conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

IHAF named the internal team at Discovery Communications as the In-House Agency of the Year—due in large part to their phenomenal story and results with regard to digital strategy, creative and execution. In 2011, Discovery Creative, which pitches against external agencies, won over 90% of the company’s digital work—a stark contrast to years prior when Discovery outsourced over 60% of their digital development. And the in-house agency’s digital success was bolstered by their decision to train a Digital Development and Q&A Swat Team, which resulted in Discovery Creative saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars, driving show awareness, increasing the intent to tune-in and delivering multiple high-profile digital ad campaigns on time and without error.

“When we increased our brand investment in digital advertising, Discovery Creative rose to the occasion,” shared Jennifer Cortner, Vice President Account Services of the in-house agency. “We quickly got up to speed on everything from digital advertising to design to development, and partnered with our Media team to measure each campaign. As a result, we have become the company’s digital experts—saving Discovery significant amounts of money and establishing our group as a credible leader in this space.”

The evidence of in-house agencies’ increased role in digital marketing continued with the IHAF Awards. This year, IHAF received equal submissions across print and digital categories. Among the nine digital categories, Ancestry.com, Discovery Creative, Prudential Insurance, and TTI, Inc. were awarded top honors.

“IHAF responded to a call for more digital categories and our members responded with more digital submissions,” said Sarah Cavicchi, Executive Director of IHAF. “And based on the volume, complexity and sophistication of the work submitted, it’s clear that in-house agencies are being tapped now more than ever for their expertise and talent when it comes to digital marketing.”