This document summarizes the benefits and challenges of an in-house marketing agency called CAN, which employs 30 creatives at Comtrade Group. CAN handles a wide variety of marketing tasks for Comtrade and some external clients, including newsletters, packaging, presentations, print materials, promotions, visual identities, web banners, videos, 3D renderings, and more. The benefits of an in-house agency are speed, short timelines, excellent creative control, and a cohesive team. The challenges include high costs, keeping creatives engaged, managing sensitive staff, and recruiting creative talent. Statistics from 2018 show CAN completed over 6,700 total design, video, and web projects that year.

1. 1
A COMTRADE AGENCY
Benefits and challenges of working
with an in-house agency
Ljubomir Ristić, CMO Comtrade Group
& creative director CAN

2. 2
How it started
An international advertising award
got me a job at relatively small IT
company, Comtrade. It was 1997.

3. 32employees
1company
Back then, Comtrade had
1In one country
3200employees
32companies
17In 17 countries
Today, Comtrade has
In 2019
marketing head-count
is 35, more than
the whole comany 20
years ago.

4. CAN is an in-house marketing agency employing 30 creatives
from various fields

5. 5
What they do?
Design and production of all marketing materials (digital and printed),
production of animated videos, 3D modelling, copywriting, digital
marketing, content creation, web design and development, exhibitions,
promotions and event organization.
We do most of our work for Comtrade Group of companies, but with
some fine exceptions like RB companies Mead Johnson Nutrition from
USA and Intima from France, and Flor gelato from Italy.

6. Task by type TOTAL
3 Newsletter 735
5 Packaging 54
6 PPTs 82
8 Print bussiness card 638
10 Print brochure 97
12 Print instruction manual 278
13 Print flyer 410
14 Print roll-up/bilboard/poster/booth 254
15 Promotions w branding 66
16 Visual identity 71
17 Web banner 2033
18 Web page 151
19 Web site 16
4885
20 Video editing 130
21 Promotional videos and animations 101
22 3D renderings 373
23 Photo shootings 561
24 Architectural design w animations 10
1165
26 Modifications of existing sites 389
27 Web application design 63
28 Web page design 118
29 Web site from scratch 10
30 Content (copy) additions 85
665
6715
TOTAL DESIGN
TOTAL VIDEO
TOTAL WEB TEAM
TOTAL
In-house vs External agency?
Only in-house team can handle complex tasks
with short deadlines.
2018 statistics

7. Blast from the past

8. 8

9. 9

10. 10
Comtrade Company Profile
2003

11. 11
Comtrade BiH
2005

12. 12
International Film
Festival
2005

13. Print ads for Societe Generale bank

14. Present day

19. Comtrade
Green
Initiative

23. 23
CLICK Computer peripherals
Identity, packaging
(3D visualization)

24. 24
CLICK Computer
peripherals
Identity, packaging (photo)

25. 25
HOME ELECTRONICS
Identity, packaging
(3D visualization)

26. 26
TESLA
Consumer electronics
Identity, packaging
(photo)

27. 27
GO PRO
Adaptation of print materials for 9 countries

28. Identity for European Athletics Indoor Championships

29. 29
MEAD JOHNSON NUTRITION
Geneva 2018
Trade show concept, design, production

30. 30
COMTRADE
Gaming platforms
London 2017
Trade show concept,
design, production

31. 31

32. 32
Pros
• Speed, speed, speed – if you really need something now, you have it now
• Short time-to-market for even the most complex projects
• Excellent creative control – you know your people very well and you know
what they are capable of
• If you pick your team carefully they become brothers in arms and as such
deliver sometimes imposible and often wonderful things

33. 33
Cons
• Cost of having a big team is, well, big
• Creative people tend to get bored easily with repetitive tasks – you need to
keep them intrigued
• You need to be ready for managing creatives; their sensitivity is quite special
• You need to know where to find them and how to attract them – HR for
creatives is sometimes difficult

34. Thank you