There were two brilliant phrases that came out of a recent Marketing Week interview between our very own Jon Williams and Tom Nixon, Head of Content Studios UK & Ireland at Nestlé.
The first was:
“In-house agencies suffer from a terminal illness… you become an all-you-can-eat buffet.”
The second:
“Negative trust equity.”
Because anyone who’s ever tried to build something new inside a large organisation will know exactly what that means.
When Nestlé launched its in-house function, it wasn’t positioned as a creative powerhouse. It was a cost initiative. A small team tucked away in a room, tasked with proving its worth from day one.
Trust wasn’t a given. It had to be earned. But over time, the conversation changed. The mission shifted from saving money to building capability. From execution to strategic thinking. From internal supplier to strategic partner.
And perhaps that’s the real story here. Not agency versus in-house. That debate feels increasingly tired. The more interesting question is: how do organisations build teams that are close enough to understand the business, but connected enough to access fresh thinking when they need it?
We’ve been fortunate to support Tom and his team on that journey over the past year through Amplify. Not to replace the in-house model, but to strengthen it. Because maybe the smartest organisations won’t build the biggest teams. They’ll build the best connected ones.
Thank you Grace Gollasch for brilliantly capturing the conversation between Tom Nixon and Jon Williams in Marketing Week. It’s well worth a read:
https://www.marketingweek.com/nestle-in-house-agency/
About Amplify
Amplify is The Liberty Guild’s plug-and-play offer designed specifically for in-house agencies, giving teams on-demand access to award-winning creative and strategic talent without adding permanent headcount.
