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I would stay in house. Most ad agencies are extremely unstable right now. Better to wait and to see how everything shakes out
Agree. If you compare the overall market performance to Omnicom, WPP, and especially IPG we are in for a bloodbath.
Go back to the dark side (agency). This feeling will not go away and you will feel like you are losing your power every day you stay in-house.
This is too real. 💔
This topic has been beaten to death, but I’ll summarize.
Agency - less stable, more intense, better work to work on. Comparable pay when comparing apples to apples. Large F500 companies will pay comparable salaries to massive agencies. Small businesses are about the same as small agencies. Market rates are set by role and niche more than anything else.
In-house - stable, slower, typically boring work. For pay, see above.
Personally, I market to live, I don’t live to market. Give me in-house all day everyday.
Rising Star
Agree 100%. Will never go back to agencies or client services in general, if I can help it.
At brands, you work at a place making something people actually want and will pay for.
At agencies, the product is...an ad. Something people actively avoid and pay to not see. And if you're lucky, you work on the 1% of ads that are really cool and smart. But only people in advertising care.
I think brands will always have a need for creative outside thinking. But I'll also say that agency folks don't understand how much they're viewed as unserious charlatans, especially because their motivations rarely align with their clients' business objectives, and because all the lofty promises in their decks prove to be smoke and mirrors. It doesn't help that they bill for ECD thinking but fob the work off on 26 year old "creative directors." The ad industry has let itself become a joke.
It's also funny how much condescension comes from agencies toward in-house teams, while every other question on here is a miserable agency person trying desperately to jump the sinking ship for client side.
I am still rooting for new small shops rising up and eating the horrible holding companies' lunch though.
I’d stay in house. Agency work is unpredictable and it’s not the same as 20 years ago.
I agree with all of the above perspectives. Outside agencies are not today what they were in the past. It has become largely a project driven and compensated business. If you are a star talent & have a big enough ego, you’ll never be happy on the in-house side. However, going back to agencies nowadays means a constant hustle for new clients/projects/assignments. Additionally, as you go from 40 to 50 years old, you may find the agency hustle to be more of a grind. I had an art director co-worker decide he would keep his very stable gig and exercise his creative muscles by writing & illustrating children’s books. This turned into over 100 books!
I will like to be with you without stressed
Thank you all for the response, I just got some interesting information, apparently the person who was in my role before me asked if he could come back because the agency job he left this job for didn’t work out 😬
You’re in an interesting position especially at your level.
Need to know more. Do you have kids and/or are on a track to having kids in the next 1-2 years? Also are you in NYC, Chicago, LA, or Portland?
Just turned 40, No kid no wife yet, only girlfriend. Not in America but in one of the most expensive city in Asia.
Chief
In-house tends to be more stable than agencies (especially in this current market) but it isn’t completely safe.
Often marketing and advertising departments are the first thing a company cuts when considering layoffs. Though every research paper I’ve seen has proven better ROI by doubling down on M+A during cold economic periods.
Leave in house plz, make it easier for me to keep my role.
How’s that relayed?