How embedded teams deliver strategic impact, consistency and control in regulated markets
For years, financial services firms approached marketing resourcing in fairly binary terms. You either built everything in-house, or you outsourced to an agency and hoped the brief translated well enough.
In 2026, that binary no longer holds.
As marketing becomes more strategic, more accountable and more tightly linked to reputation and growth, many regulated firms are gravitating towards a third model: embedded marketing. Not as a stop-gap. Not as a compromise. But as a deliberate, strategic choice.
Why traditional models are under pressure
Internal teams bring institutional knowledge but scaling them can be expensive and slow – particularly when specialist skills are required across brand, content, digital, data and performance. Hiring senior marketers is costly and building a full capability depth in-house team often isn’t realistic for growing firms.
Traditional agency models, meanwhile, can struggle in regulated environments. Without proximity to the business, agencies can default to surface-level execution: campaigns without context, content without nuance, and strategies that look good on paper but don’t survive compliance, internal politics or real-world constraints.
The result is often a gap between marketing ambition and delivery.
What embedded marketing actually means
Embedded marketing sits between these extremes.
Rather than operating at arm’s length, embedded partners work as an extension of the internal team. They understand the firm’s objectives, constraints and risk profile. They attend internal meetings, align closely with leadership, and build long-term familiarity with the business – not just the brief.
This isn’t about “outsourcing tasks”. It’s about embedding strategic capability, creative thinking and executional horsepower into the organisation in a way that feels joined-up, accountable and commercially focused.
In regulated sectors, that kind of proximity matters.
Why the model works particularly well for financial services
Financial services marketing doesn’t reward surface-level understanding. Messaging needs to be precise. Tone matters. Timing matters. Compliance considerations shape what can be said and how.
An embedded model allows marketing to operate with context and confidence. It reduces rework. It shortens feedback loops. It enables better judgement calls because decisions are made with a deeper understanding of the business and its audience.
It also supports continuity. Rather than restarting with every campaign, embedded teams build narrative momentum over time – strengthening brand and credibility in a way that sporadic activity rarely achieves.
The commercial case for embedding
There’s also a very practical driver behind the shift: cost efficiency.
Embedded models give firms access to senior strategic thinking and specialist execution without the fixed overhead of multiple full-time hires. They allow businesses to scale marketing capability up or down as needed, without losing consistency or direction.
In an environment where leadership teams are scrutinising spend more closely – and demanding clearer ROI from marketing – flexibility and accountability matter.
What firms should look for in an embedded partner
Not all agencies are built to embed. The model requires sector fluency, strategic maturity and a willingness to operate without ego.
The strongest embedded partners are comfortable being close to the business. They prioritise outcomes over outputs. They understand that creativity in financial services must be grounded in strategy and commercial reality.
Most importantly, they don’t feel like “external suppliers”. They feel like part of the team.
A Lacewing perspective
At Lacewing, we approach marketing as a strategic function rather than a bolt-on. We see embedded marketing as a response to how financial services firms actually operate in 2026 – they are complex, regulated, fast-moving and reputation-led.
If you’re rethinking how your marketing team is structured – or exploring how to get more strategic impact without unnecessary overhead – an embedded model is well worth considering. And if you’re curious about how Lacewing works alongside internal teams, you can explore what we do or get in touch with us for a conversation.