The bigger picture

We’re currently in the middle of collecting data for our 2026 In-House Barometer. Surveys are out. Responses are coming in. Sheets are slowly turning into patterns.

But while we wait for the final numbers to settle, it’s worth stepping back and looking at what the 2025 global benchmarks already revealed. Because the direction is clear.

And interestingly — it’s the same direction we saw in our own data last year.

Here are some of the most telling insights from 2025, particularly from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the In-House Agency Leaders Club (IHALC).

In-house is now infrastructure

According to ANA’s In-House Agency Fact Book 2025, 82% of large advertisers now operate with an in-house agency setup.

That’s not a test run. That’s the default setting.

IHALC’s 2025 Benchmark Report confirms continued expansion — both in headcount and in responsibility. More in-house teams are taking lead roles. More are moving into above-the-line territory.

This isn’t just production support anymore.

It’s brand platforms. Hero films. Campaign leadership.

And this is exactly what our 2025 Barometer showed as well: growth in scope, growth in ownership, growth in ambition.

The strategy gap

Now here’s the tension.

Only around 35% of in-house agencies globally have a formal planning capability.

Only about 22% have a dedicated Strategy Director or equivalent role.

That’s a structural gap.

Because scaling output is not the same as strengthening direction.

WARC put it bluntly in their coverage: ambitious in-house agencies need stronger strategy capabilities if they want to lead — not just execute.

Our own numbers last year pointed in the same direction. Teams were growing faster than their strategic frameworks. Production muscles were building quicker than planning muscles.

It’s not a criticism. It’s a maturity curve.

External agencies are not disappearing

Despite the expansion of in-house, external agencies remain deeply involved — especially in:

– Creative strategy

– Large-scale ATL

– Specialist competencies

This isn’t about replacement. It’s about redesign.

And again, our data echoed this: hybrid models are becoming the norm. The question isn’t “in-house or external?” It’s “how do they work together without stepping on each other’s toes?”

Governance: the quiet pressure point

The IHALC report also highlights a softer, but critical, issue:

Many in-house agencies still don’t systematically track time and cost.

Some operate without clear SLAs.

Some don’t lock project costs before starting.

When responsibility increases, the need for structure increases.

And once more, this mirrors what we saw in last year’s Barometer: governance maturity often trails behind growth.

Teams expand. Expectations rise. Processes catch up later.

What this tells us

We’re watching in-house teams evolve from service units to strategic actors.

But strategy capability and operational discipline don’t always scale at the same speed as ambition.

That gap will define the next phase.

If in-house wants to act as lead agency, it requires:

– Early strategic involvement

– Clear leadership roles

– Defined processes

– Transparent cost structures

Otherwise, you risk building a powerful production engine with no steering wheel.

Heading into 2026

When we release our 2026 Barometer this spring, the real question won’t be whether in-house is growing. We already know it is.

The question will be:

Has strategic capability caught up?

Has governance matured?

Or is output still expanding faster than the foundation beneath it?

The global benchmarks from ANA and IHALC confirm what we already saw last year.

In-house is no longer the experiment.

It’s the operating model.

Now it’s about building it properly.

Sources

– Association of National Advertisers, In-House Agency Fact Book 2025

– In-House Agency Leaders Club, 2025 In-House Benchmarking Survey Report

– WARC, “Ambitious in-house agencies need strategy capabilities”