In-House Marketing vs Agency

Hey!

Before COVID, most businesses relied on agencies. Today, 47% of small businesses do their own marketing — and big brands are moving in-house, fast.

Good idea? Or short-term survival instinct?

Marketing isn’t an expense. It’s how you find new customers.
No customers, no cash flow, no business.
Cutting marketing is like deciding not to eat because you want to lose weight.

Today, the game is changing:

• Small businesses are doing marketing themselves.

• Big companies are building internal teams.

• Everyone is trying to move faster and spend smarter.

Should You In-House?

Ask yourself three questions:

• Do we have the talent? Not interns - strategists, creatives, media buyers.

• Do we have the speed? Internal teams still get stuck in corporate quicksand.

• Do we have the standards? You’re not just posting on Instagram - you’re building a brand.

If the answer isn’t “hell yes” to all three, you have a problem.

What Success Looks Like

Take PepsiCo’s Sips & Bites in-house agency.

Four years ago, it was just an idea. Today, it’s winning Cannes Lions and D&AD Pencils - something you don’t usually see from in-house teams.

Instead of doing cheap adaptation and versioning work, Sips & Bites focuses on big, culture-crashing ideas.

Think Doritos ‘Silent’ — the world’s first AI-augmented snack that muted crunch sounds for gamers.

Their philosophy?

• Creativity first.

• Cost-saving second.

PepsiCo didn’t build Sips & Bites to save money. They built it to make their brands famous.

It’s a reminder: In-housing works when you put creativity, not cost, at the center.

The Benefit of an Ad Agency

But even Pepsi, with all that internal firepower, still partners with agencies like BBDO, Mother, and VaynerMedia when they need extra muscle — whether it’s for global campaigns, fresh perspectives, or specialist expertise they don’t keep in-house.

It’s the same story with startups like Glossier and Gymshark.

Both built their brands with scrappy, internal marketing teams.

It worked… until they needed global scale, broader expertise, and serious creative firepower to break into new markets and audiences.

An agency gives you something you can’t buy easily: external perspective, depth, and speed.

Good agencies bring:

• Senior talent you could never afford full-time.

• Cross-industry experience you don’t have internally.

• Creative firepower that doesn’t get stuck in “how we always do it.”

• Scalability — you can dial up or down without building a huge team.

A great agency is like a SWAT team for your brand:

In. Solve the problem. Out.

No unnecessary meetings. No long-term hiring risks.

The Negative of an Ad Agency

It’s not all sunshine.

Agencies come with downsides too:

• Cost: Retainers can feel heavy, especially for small businesses.

• Distance: If they don’t understand your brand deeply, you’ll get shallow work.

• Priorities: You’re one client among many. If you’re not a priority, you’re invisible.

Worst case?

You’re paying premium prices for junior execution and recycled ideas.

That’s why building an internal team can be powerful. Your people live and breathe the brand every day. They know the nuances - the stories, the quirks, the customers - that an external agency might miss. They can move faster, catch problems earlier, and create marketing that feels authentic, not manufactured.

Internal Team vs. Agency

You don’t need an agency. You don’t need an internal team.

You need impact. Who delivers it?

That’s the real decision.

If you liked this take, send this article to a friend.

Every week, I’ll help you think sharper, market smarter, and stay ahead of the game.

Thanks for reading. Stay sharp.

Marti