For in-house agencies, meeting deadlines is one of the biggest challenges. In an EKCS survey conducted in November 2021 over half (51%) of respondents sighted deadlines as their number one challenge. The Modern Challenges of an IHA survey also revealed that the same number of IHAs couldn’t find the time to be creative.
It is hardly surprising that 85% of IHAs outsource to external providers, according to the In-House Agency Forum (IHAF). It is evident that adopting and successfully deploying an offshore partnership is high on the agenda for businesses creating and producing omni channel campaigns at scale.
Time and cost savings are two key benefits of outsourcing production. The cost issue looms large now, as Marketing Directors and CMOs are under pressure to prove the ROI on their efforts, something like hiring additional freelancers or extra staff makes it difficult to achieve.
For many years, access to a lower-cost resource was the primary benefit of an offshore model. An article published by Campaign Live highlighted how the brand Nestle was able to reduce production costs by as much as 80% using offshore production partners. While reducing production costs is still a key driver, and for many IHAs it is likely to be one of their top reasons for offshoring, a range of additional business challenges are catalysts for in-house studios to embark on their offshore search.
According to The Creative Production Benchmark Report Delivering Offshore Success in 2021, agencies start their search for an offshore partner to access resources that are:
- scalable (46%)
- flexible (42%)
- operate 24/7 (38%)
According to the IHAF 2018 State-of-the-Industry Report, 67% of IHAs are not adequately staffed to carry out mass creative production and distribution. In a global economy based on virtual working and digital advertising, access to flexible resource has become a crucial component for any studio manager, looking to fulfil customer requirements in a timely way.
Additional benefits of outsourcing include:
- When advertising campaigns are to be produced and delivered under tight deadlines, using offshore partners who are working in different time zones is a huge advantage for a creative team.
- By outsourcing the production support to an external agency, you don’t just cut down substantial costs of ramping up a team but also gain control and flexibility.
- Access a bigger pool of talent with an offshore team who has the experience of working with different clients and understands production trends.
- Every organization has peak periods and it is here that IHAs can leverage the help of external partners. With knowledge transfer and collaboration, external and in-house teams work in tandem to handle peaks. In the EKCS The Modern Challenges of an IHA survey, more than half of respondents said meeting deadlines was one of the biggest challenges they faced.
- For lower-level creative and artwork, production and digital work, using an offshore production partner can make significant savings for in-house agencies without any loss in quality.
Due to the well-documented benefits of outsourcing and success stories, outsourcing creative production continues to grow in 2024.
Want to learn more?
Join Robert Berkeley on Thursday, September 7th. In this free webinar from Henry Stewart, Robert will explore the age-old dilemma of having a great in-house team but needing to do more. And often do more for less! This webinar looks at the ways in which in-house teams can work alongside offshore teams. Robert invites you to share your in-house challenges, gives insight into how to embed teams and different outsourcing models such as the hybrid mix, and reveals how outsourcing creative production can enable in-house teams to think and behave more creatively.
Sign up now for the webinar: Why would I outsource if I have a fantastic team: Here's Why...
Register Now
Thursday, September 7, 2023
9AM PDT / 12PM EDT / 5PM BST / 6PM CEST
This content is taken from Chapter 2 of A Guide to Outsourcing for Creative Teams which looks at the hybrid approach of creative production outsourcing, what to look for in a production partner, and how to measure the success of outsourcing. Download the free guide today.
