Build the core. Flex the rest.
Creative leaders from SEEK, 7-Eleven and PLAYE on how in-house teams decide what to keep in-house, what to flex, and how to tell if the mix is working.
- 03:16 Building the right permanent core
- 10:50 Knowing what to flex
- 19:07 Where agencies still add value
- 27:17 Making external talent part of the team
- 38:05 Measuring the right resource mix
- 48:11 The Creative Elasticity Index
- 49:54 Audience Q&A
Three operators who live this every week
Runs video teams across Indonesia, Malaysia and beyond, with demand that spikes by market and season.
Built 7-Eleven's in-house agency from scratch just over a year ago and is now right-sizing it.
Previously led the APAC Creative Studio at Adobe and the creative studio at Dyson.
Works with enterprise creative teams in Australia and the UK on how they engage external talent.
Resource to the trough. Flex to the peak.
Short on time? Here is what the panel agreed on.
Keep what compounds in-house
Brand knowledge, customer insight, channel expertise and creative leadership get more valuable every year. So do briefing, quality checks and review. Those stay inside.
Use flex to prove a hire
The Corner Shop won Tier 2 briefs earlier than planned and covered the art director gap with flexible talent. Two briefs later, the data justified a full-time role.
Plan the flex before the peak
Forecast next month and next quarter. Have your bench onboarded, rates agreed and procurement done before demand lands, not after your team is already underwater.
Don't pay a markup for pass-through work
As an agency producer, Pip added 30% to production quotes she passed on. A 100K job became 130K. When the work doesn't need agency strategy, brief the production company directly.
Onboarding is the multiplier
Run brand enablement live, not by email. Give externals a buddy, a seat at stand-up and access to your channels. Debrief them on their last day and record it.
Measure before you decide
Track timesheets and turnaround times. The Corner Shop is resourced for about 80% of its projected work. SEEK's dashboard shows 3,322 assets delivered and 5,053 in progress.
"Zero change in FTE equals zero change in headcount."
"I don't agree with this agency versus in-house mentality. I think that's the completely wrong approach."
"Brand enablement session. I will bang on about this till the cows come home."
How elastic is your creative team?
The Creative Elasticity Index scores how well your in-house capacity matches your demand, and tells you what to change first.
- 25 questions on your demand, team and partners
- A score out of 100 and your team type
- Three priorities across 30, 60 and 90 days
- Free, no commitment
Want to talk through your mix?
PLAYE helps in-house creative teams engage, manage and pay external talent compliantly, at scale.