Should You Outsource Advertising and Marketing Production?

Because I work for an outsourcing company, I know first-hand that outsourcing continues to be a popular management tool in 2010 with no signs of slowing down in the near future.  Companies are dealing with the global recession and working to focus on their core competencies.  I see on a daily basis that, in both the private and public sector, organizations are increasingly turning over various internal functions to outside providers in order to reduce costs, improve efficiency and increase flexibility.

Although ad agencies, marketing services firms, commercial printers, newspapers and retailers and companies in a variety of other vertical markets have been employing this practice for some time, the outsourcing of advertising and marketing production is still a new concept to many organizations.  You should see the glazed-over look I get when I explain what I do at cocktail parties or talk to other parents at my kids’ sporting activities!

The reality is that we all outsource every single day.  Does your company use a payroll service?  Who runs your cafeteria?  Is that security guard in the lobby an employee of yours?  Do you have a service to mow your lawn and when was the last time you washed your own car?  Granted, outsourcing of advertising and marketing production involves a function that’s more complex and mission-critical than trimming hedges, but you get the idea.

Now every company does some amount of advertising and marketing production, whether in-house or through a vendor. You design your company logo, create business cards for your employees, have a website, maybe emails or newsletters that you send out to customers or other stakeholders, case studies or product specs, print collateral such as brochures or flyers, or other business document that require some design effort.  Some companies have in-house designers who do this; many work with external vendors or contractors.