Hope those of you that are snow bound like me are making the most of catching up on any backlog from the festive break.
One of the things that I was really surprised about when I became a 'poacher' or was it a 'gamekeeper' when I moved agency side, was the lack of technological systems and processes that an agency had in place, both for its own internal use and for the interaction with clients. I think it is improving a bit but it seems to be more lead from the client.
Systems such as Digital Asset Management systems are being used more and more in the back of the decoupling of press production activity from mainstream agencies. But what about process management ? Are there systems in place that can improve the efficiencies and therefore the costs long term of the briefing to the final approval stage? Are clients looking at companies such as BEAM, Adstream and Adgistics to improve their supply to the market. Be good to get any one's thoughts on this topic. I know that some of it does come down to budget and where does the cost sit - it is a Purchasing initiative but requires investment from Marketing.
What prompted me was that I have just come across this Event in February and have booked to attend - Technology for Advertising and Marketing. Be good to see what is out there for both clients and agencies to consider. Click here for the link to the event.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Happy New Year Tina, here’s to a successful 2010 for all of us involved in advertising.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I’m from Adstream so could be seen to have a biased point of view. That said, as a leading technology and services business we have a fair amount of experience with agencies and their approach to technology.
I think you’re right that there used to be a reluctance for agencies to invest in technology and process management, after all they’re creative and use a different part of the brain (magic and logic).
But throughout 2009 we’ve seen a shift in thinking from some of the more visionary agencies who have realised that having good process management and smart systems in place can only help their cause.
Smart workflows and reliable services significantly improve the quality of the final creative, save your clients money and help you win new business. I’m happy to share with you and your subscribers an article Leo Burnett London recently did about this subject in Print Media Management http://www.adstream.com/crmdocuments/AGENCY_LEOBURNETT.pdf
Kind regards
Mike
Good points from both of you. Agencies do employ people who have a logical side to their brain, but are often hampered by the cost of acquiring a system that only has a time saving ROI and not a financial one. However in this day and age there is no reason for large number of emails to fly around with PDF's attached for approval. Or not to be able to track where a job is in a workflow. It just doesn't make sense. And if the creatives still have to be magical about the process, production and traffic can adapt that within their system.
ReplyDeleteAs for clients, many are pushed by the fact that they use multiple agencies (media, digital, ATL) across different brands or medium so it makes sense to centralise assets and even workflows. However having worked directly with clients, large and small, whilst they can be keen to use workflow processes there can at times be a push back as it can highlight inefficiencies in client departments. It can be a wake up call to a company that they hadn't expected. However that's no bad thing. When producing any marketing material it's important for both sides of the fence to monitor what they do, how they do it and what costs are being incurred.
However have a look at my blog about other areas where technology could save clients money and yet isn't being used.