Creative Control

With the rise of online video agencies are launching in-house broadcast divisions. Are they anticipating a new market or treading on toes? Nicola Smith reports

Last month, digital agency AKQA became the latest in a rash of creative agencies to launch an in-house film division (NMA 08.05.08). Agencies are reacting to brands' rapidly increasing demand for online campaigns centred around film and video. So is now the right time to be creating one-stop shops for clients? Or do advertisers not care where this capability comes from, as long as the work is achieved on time, on budget and to brief?

In-house in vogue?

"The exciting thing is that digital agencies can now make creative, engaging video content for their clients' audiences, whereas before it seemed to be the domain of the more traditional agencies," says James Hilton, founder and executive creative director at AKQA. "I love the fact that the playing field is levelling off and the name of the game is 'best idea wins'."

Honda (UK) is one brand that welcomes the shift. Jonny Freeman, digital marketing manager at Honda (UK), says, "We need to know we can be flexible and retain creative control. Having video-editing capabilities within a digital agency is an advantage for any brand owner."

Cheryl Calverley, UK marketing manager for Chrysalis brands at Unilever - which recently worked with AKQA on the 'Tipping pot' online film for Pot Noodle, a spoof of Guinness's well-known 'Tipping point' TV ad - also sees the trend as a positive move for brands. She says that in-house production brings "far greater experience to the process at an earlier stage, allowing creative development to be tailored more specifically to capabilities."

Yet these brands appear to be in the minority. For others, strong relationships and brand affinity outweigh increased in-house functionality. Sports brand Fila recently worked initially with its PR agency Frank PR and then directly with content specialists Red Bee Media to produce a viral campaign to promote its new trainer, the White Line Fila Vintage. While Fila and Frank PR jointly came up with the concept of a short online film that spoofed the British gangster genre, Red Bee wrote the script and made the film, but outsourced post-production. For Fila it was about finding the right fit. "Red Bee had experience in producing virals but this wasn't a huge factor when choosing a company to work with," says Marc Travis, marketing manager of Fila." It was more about finding a company that understood Fila, had a feel for its background and was able to tap into the edginess that would appeal to our consumer market."

British Red Cross has a similar take. It recently worked with digital agency Enable Interactive to create a campaign that engaged and educated young people about the global HIV pandemic. Enable doesn't have a digital film unit in-house so worked with an external agency to produce three 30-second films. The campaign was launched on social networks, achieving more than 25,000 profile views on World AIDS Day on Bebo alone.

Lack of in-house production capabilities was not an issue to Red Cross new media manager Dorothea Arndt. "I'm a big fan of working with the best people available for the job, of bringing together different agencies," she says. "The principle is very simple: you treat everyone as part of your internal team. We weren't at all fazed by not having some of the expertise in-house, we just made sure we got everyone in one room when we briefed the screenplay."

Team work

Animation specialist Aardman has recently collaborated on a project with Digital Outlook Studios, the digital film arm of agency Digital Outlook. Aardman's online creative director Dan Efergan is equally relaxed. "We'll happily work with any agency, specialist or individual, or a combination of them all, as long as we believe the outcome will be strong," he says. Aardman and Digital Outlook worked together to create a new franchise, a set of animated characters for teens called the JellyBeats, which will be launched on Bebo and will be promoted via a series of short films.

Another company that has achieved impressive results working with a specialist production company is Tenon, the UK's ninth largest accountancy firm. It launched its own online TV channel in March, working with online business channel Moviecom. The channel launched with a video announcement of the company's annual results, which Moviecom scripted, filmed and edited. But Bev Cook, Tenon's associate director of national marketing, doesn't believe success hinges on working with one partner. "As long as you've done your homework and you have the brief right, the right relationship and the agency is happy to work with other outfits, there's no reason why a creative agency shouldn't work successfully with an external production company."
While the majority of brands place greater emphasis on the relationship and cultural fit over in-house production expertise, they do acknowledge the advantages of working with a full-service partner. As Aardman's Efergan says, "With every additional link in a production the creative vision has more opportunities to get corrupted - the Chinese whisper effect that leaves an idea warped and further removed from its original intentions."

Travis adds that consistency is a boon of working with an agency with in-house film production skills. "It was beneficial to have input from Marcus [Jones, director of Red Bee] from day one, right through to filming and final edit. You get immediate ownership, improved communication and consistency from the start."

Unilever's Calverley is also quick to reel off the advantages. "Reduced expense, the ability to develop creative with an eye on production at all times, and a collaborative team with the same vision at all stages of the project."

Agencies that have recently launched specialist film units in an effort to capitalise on the online video boom are also, predictably, vocal about the benefits. AKQA's Hilton says, "Our in-house directors work hand in hand with our creative teams, bringing with them insight and familiarity with our clients' brands that an outside director may not have."

Simon Cam, head of Superglue, the digital film department of agency Glue, also believes its clients welcome the hand-in-hand approach. "Not many people are putting Flash developers, directors and post-production people in the same room and saying, 'Talk to each other constantly throughout the project.' It means we can achieve some of the more ambitious pieces we want to produce," he says.

Patrick Holtkamp, MD of online video agency Wax, agrees. "Our directors are our creative directors and the producers are the account directors. By doing this we're cutting huge layers of communication and we get the client talking and working directly with the people who make the campaign happen."

In-house limits

Efergan offers an alternative school of thought, believing that working with numerous good people from different sources can also serve to "magnify a project's outcome, not corrupt it".
There are certainly potential advantages to working with an agency that is forced to outsource film production. For example, an opportunity to find a better skill fit for specific projects, something that even Jens Bachem, MD of Digital Outlook and its film division Digital Outlook Studios, readily acknowledges. The company still calls on freelance skills to ensure each brief is met by the best people. Bachem believes this approach avoids one of the possible dangers of relying solely on in-house talent. "If an agency has hired a particular team of in-house directors or writers, then it'll be tempted to shoehorn them into a project, even if it's not 100% their style or skill."

Liz Smith, founder of production company Film38, supports this view. "Sub-contracting to specialists means you have more choice," she says. "You may be able to find a supplier better able to serve a certain brief, not to mention the fact that they're forced to be competitive in order to win business."

Most agencies that have launched specialist film arms do still dip into the freelance pool, but Bachem's point is a valid one, particularly when brands' budgets restrict how much additional outside expertise an agency can bring in. Hilton claims AKQA simply does whatever it needs to do. "We work with the most talented people in the industry, many of whom we're fortunate enough to have here at AKQA, but other times we go outside to use the skills of other individuals or production facilities."

Cam states that one of Glue's big aims when it launched Superglue was to remain flexible. "We wanted to foster in-house specialism but not at the expense of using third party suppliers. We might pull in live-action film work from someone who specialises in comedy, for example, then bolt on Superglue's post production and digital integration skills. It's about keeping it flexible and modular."

However the landscape pans out, it's valid to ask whether we might see decoupling in the world of digital advertising as brands begin working directly with production specialists rather than via creative agencies. It has been a huge debate in the world of traditional advertising, with agencies like Wax invited to speak to advertisers at a recent ISBA conference devoted to decoupling (see Opinion, page 31).

For digital, the jury is definitely still out, with brands less convinced than agencies. Aardman's Efergan believes that, as campaigns become more integrated, there will be a greater need for agencies to pull the different elements together and ensure a cohesive approach from different specialists working on the same project. Calverley agrees that the shift is unlikely. "We work with digital agencies on far more than films - they're just one aspect of a complex digital strategy," she says.

It's a view backed up by Film38's Smith, who says that most clients are looking for more than just film production, such as a communication strategy or tracking and analysis. "In those scenarios, I expect production to continue to be commissioned by agencies."
Fila's Travis is more open-minded. "It could definitely be the way things move forward. If there's good chemistry between the parties you can really make something that's strong and unexpected, which is what I believe we did with the White Line Fila Vintage film."
Positive outlook

The digital agencies that have already launched specialist units are understandably more positive that this is the future, and some are already working in this way. Holtkamp says the need to have a separate creative shop is no longer there, while Hilton says AKQA has always worked directly with its clients and its film division is no different. "It means none of the innovation and creativity are lost in translation."

The most outspoken is Andy Rogers, MD of eTV, which produces and distributes interactive video content. He says digital and TV will combine within the next five years, creating a new industry. "There will always be room in the marketplace for specialists, but the industry will be led by those willing to bring together and fully exploit both disciplines," he says. Indeed, research by Thinkbox and the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) in May showed that, already, using TV and online together in ad campaigns results in 47% more positivity about a brand than using either in isolation, while the likelihood of buying or using a product increases by more than 50% when the two channels are used together.

So maybe digital agencies already investing in film capability are simply anticipating what their slightly sceptical clients will demand in months to come.

Quick facts -- Brands don't view film production capabilities as key to a creative agency's armour, although they recognise the benefits -- Key advantages to having in-house film production are improved communication and consistency, reduced expense and brand familiarity -- Key advantages to outsourcing film production include sourcing skills specific to each project and, potentially, more competitive prices -- Research by Thinkbox and the IAB shows that using TV and online together in ad campaigns can result in 47% more positivity about a brand -- The research also shows that the likelihood of buying or using a product increases by more than 50% when the two channels are used together

Source: nma.co.uk