WPP client Dell Technologies is rolling out its global in-housing initiative, reshaping media-buying strategy

In recent months, separate sources, all of whom requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the developments, independently informed Digiday that Dell was considering such moves. This was after earlier experimentation with MediaMonks — activity that is understood to have since been abandoned. 

Digiday understands that Dell’s search and social activity are the first two pillars of its digital media activity to be taken in-house, as part of a phased rollout, which began with its Latin American operation. It’s understood that the rollout will subsequently take place in Europe and APAC within the next 12 months. 

Dell declined to comment extensively when approached by Digiday, although a spokesperson noted that the company is “working with WPP to evolve our approach to advertising to ensure we reach the right audiences with messages that resonate.”

However, it is widely known that its marketing activity is helmed by Kristen Nolte, svp, global consumer and small business marketing, and Briana O’Dea, director, global media campaign strategy, both of whom spoke publicly about this strategy earlier this year at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.  

The rationale behind in-housing is driven by the typical desire for better cost-effectiveness, such as calculating ROAS more accurately, with the actors involved claiming it points to a broader media modernization effort within the industry. The need for faster market response and better integration of sales and marketing drives this, per such sources.

Dell’s media spend is estimated to be around $600 million (net) annually, according to COMvergence, with its marketing team tasked with appealing to both consumers and enterprise buyers. It is this balancing act, i.e., between direct-to-consumer and enterprise sales, that places great emphasis on complex media mix modeling, with the latter being understood as central to Dell’s planning activity. 

As part of its updated strategy, Dell is now utilizing AI to help scale its marketing operations and refine its ad tech operations, including better tailoring ads delivered through programmatic technologies.  

A primary benefit of Dell pursuing this in-house strategy has been gaining more transparency by bringing data closer to execution, which in turn could enable faster decision-making and performance gains beyond simple cost savings, with the project understood to have involved partnering with boutique consultancy Overline.

Paul Frampton-Calero, CEO of Overline’s parent company, Goodway Group, told Digiday that its consulting business model helps clients solve problems before investing heavily in media, emphasizing the importance of strategic media performance over cost savings.

“A big part of the process is what we call B.P.A.: business, process, and automation,” he explained, adding that global household brands contemplating such a move need to consider how to evolve the intricate network of partnerships they currently have before implementing such a seismic project. “There’s a lot of steps involved, so we have helped them [Dell] to reimagine how that becomes more effective and more efficient.”

The strategy also involves a recalibration of Dell’s agency collaboration, with the $82 billion technology giant’s partnership with WPP Media — MediaCom (now known as part of the holding company’s media-investment arm WPP Media), which was Dell’s primary media agency partner since the late 2000s, likely to experience the most interruption.

The scale of Dell’s media planning and buying activity required its agency partners to employ a historic workforce of hundreds to service its global activity, but the current strategy under implementation won’t support such numbers. Industry commentators approached by Digiday surmised that the efficiencies realized by implementing AI will eventually lead to a notable downsizing of this headcount.

WPP Media declined to comment on record when approached by Digiday, although a spokesperson there underlined the statement offered by Dell, with the unit understood to be handling the brand’s wider media-buying operations, such as display advertising, etc.

However, the media investment unit’s parent company is often keen to highlight that its high-profile recent overhauls were all geared toward helping brands evolve their marketing infrastructure. Meanwhile, staffers at media holding companies are often eager to highlight that “in-housing conversations” are not a new trend, with such developments usually involving nuance; it is seldom the case of “either in or out.”   

“All brands are going through this one way or the other,” commented one source, who requested anonymity, given the sensitivities around such developments.

— Seb Joseph contributed to this report.