New Kantar/Campaign research to shed light on the agency vs in-housing debate in APAC

There’s been keen interest in recent US-based research showing record levels of advertisers steering marketing services in-house and away from agencies.

But the picture is less clear in Asia-Pacific, especially around the types of services brands prefer to trust to in-house teams and which services agencies can provide with better value.

This is where Campaign is aiming to add some clarity, with new industry research done in partnership with Kantar that will be released at Campaign360 on March 5th in Singapore.

Already, we see some interesting trends in the results.  Brands are indeed showing more inclination to bring certain services in-house in Asia-Pacific and many are also looking to work more with consultancies.

But agencies are still heavily relied on in areas like media planning and buying, social monitoring and, beyond anything else, creative thinking and critical objectivity. CEOs, in particular, still see agencies as go-to partners for marketing services.

Pablo Gomez, Kantar APAC head of media & digital will present The Business of Marketing survey at Campaign360

However, the detailed results will show areas where brands are looking to go it alone on their marketing strategies. Data management, measurement and analytics all resonate strongly here. Control and trust around data, we will show, is key in this area, since marketers are far more likely to trust their own data and select partners like Google, over data from agencies and other walled garden providers like Facebook.

Detailed results on these, and many other trends will be presented by Kantar at the Capella Singapore event and reported to Campaign members on March 5.

Among the questions this survey of brand, agency, procurement and finance leaders will tackle:

• What are the most important skills/assets for agencies to have?
• How involved should procurement teams be in marketing investments?
• Are marketing objectives’ aligned with financial goals?  Do they meet them?
• How much autonomy do CMOs have?
• What metrics are the most valuable?
• Whose data do you trust?
• How transparent are agencies on fees and pricing?
• What factors are the largest determinant of pitch wins?

Now entering its third year, Campaign360 gathers the most influential global and regional media and marketing heads in a forum to ignite change. You can see the full Campaign360 agenda here. 

Campaign360 is an invite-only event with a limited supply of VIP passes available for senior brand marketers. To register your interest in attending, please contact Lucian Mashobe on +852 2122 5238 or email.