Focus Paper Job and Review Management - BrandMaker

FOCUS PAPER
More efficiency and effectiveness
in the creative process
The creative supply chain under control

FOCUS PAPER The creative supply chain under control
Supply chain management postulates that in the future it will no longer be enterprises, but rather supply
chains, which compete with one another. Because: The fewer interface problems and breaches an
enterprise encounters in its processes, the more efficiently and effectively can it serve its customers.
In times of comparable products, extremely competitive markets and global competition, this is a key
element necessary to survive in the market. But what is the status of the supply chains in marketing and
communications — the creative supply chains? Are they both efficient and effective – i.e. competitive – or
are they more like a ball and chain for market communications, in matters of quality, cost, and speed? This
focus paper is dedicated to the challenges within the creative supply chain, and demonstrates timely
solutions, with the aid of modern IT, which make marketing forceful and agile in regard to processes.
Hardly any other corporate field is comparable to marketing in its emphasis on interfaces in its processes. Information,
ideas, concepts, and thoughts are exchanged via these interfaces, and their conclusion should be of a successful
campaign as the output of the creative process. A particularly critical process in marketing is the creative production
process: There, diverse process participants within and outside the enterprise exchange an idea, a concept, and its results.
Creation usually takes place under enormous time and cost pressure – in the triangle of objectives regarding quality,
costs, and time, at least one dimension suffers – and so do the nerves of the participants.
Figure: The Creative Supply Chain
Several problems and challenges arise for the participants in the course of a process of creation. The most important are
as follows:
- Marketing receives ideas, wishes, or suggestions for campaigns from product management, from the sales and
distribution department, or directly from the corporate leadership level, and in addition generates its own plans.
This input is captured in a variety of forms; sometimes in the form of e-mails; sometimes only orally in informal
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FOCUS PAPER The creative supply chain under control
talk at the coffee machine; sometimes in a regulated process as well. But: Only rarely plans and ideas for
creative productions are captured centrally and designated as a job. This results in a lack of transparency about
the current workload and the “pipeline” of currently existing projects. Thus, not only in marketing itself, but also
on the corporate leadership level, it is elusive exactly what is pending or already underway.
- Once the process of creation is started, the next step involves the selection and briefing of the appropriate
service provider – whether an internal production department or an outside agency. Whatever is received as
unclear input unclear here, will not become any clearer in the course of creation; for this reason, a core
challenge in the creative process is the preparation of an exact, complete, and timely briefing.
- Briefing is followed by creation and the associated coordination processes. In a more or less time-consuming
process going back and forth, the desired solution is approached in a step-wise way. Working efficiently and the
effective communication of desired changes and feedback are a particular challenge. In reality, this process
frequently takes place via e-mail, involving large mailing lists and file attachments. It also involves the
conversion of files, so that all participants can take a look at the design: For example, before each review the
layout draft must be converted from a desktop publishing (DTP) program into a PDF or other well-established
format. The result is an abundance of file versions and a process that is no longer fully traceable, so that in the
end, sometimes it is not even possible to explain why one has selected one thing over the other.
- In the previous process step, time pressure frequently grows sharply, because coordination takes longer than
anticipated or because a concept must be redesigned in its entirety because there is a new idea or the original
idea is just not realizable. Time pressure frequently results in loss of quality, which in turn leads to the need for
corrections and reviews. The real objective is to be able to invest as much as possible of the little time available
into the creative process by minimizing the time spent for reviews, corrections, and file transmissions.
- In the review phase, staff easily lose the overview over the current project status, over costs, and releases which
have been given or are still pending. The results are errors due to lack of transparency; forgotten releases,
exploding costs, and erroneous transmission of documents due to a chaos of versions.
- A further source of error is the lack of standardization in the course of a project. Even though the content of
each creative project may be different; the workflow sequences may be standardized to a great extent, at least
as long as media are the same (for example, for all advertisement or for all brochures which are developed). This
is utilized only by a small number of companies which in part is understandable as different employees are
involved in different projects: from an individual point of view, the easiest is for each of them to execute the
project in his/her own way. However, especially in the standardization of the creative processes there is an
enormous potential for increased efficiency.
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FOCUS PAPER The creative supply chain under control
Increased number of
required reviews and
corrections
Tough timelines for
creation and
processing
More errors
Figure: The review cycle in marketing – from “the hundredth to the thousandth”
Order
Briefing
and
Quote
Creation
Reviews
and
Feedback
Lack of transparency,
unclear requirements
and briefings
The approach to a solution for marketing departments which want to simplify, accelerate, and better document their
creative workflows, are standardized processes, together with the application of a suitable software platform for the
support of those workflows.
As a starting point, the creative production process may be divided into its individual components and these components
can be analyzed as to their optimization potentials. This analysis eventually leads to a holistic improvement of the
process:
Figure: Processes involved in a creative production process
Corrections Approval
Pre-
Production
/ Typesetting
Production
Creative processes can be standardized by dividing them into two components: the framework¸ the scaffold, so to speak,
for the sub-process; and its content. The process framework represents the component that may be standardized: Here
mistakes can be minimized, quality optimized, workflow times speeded up and costs reduced. The content-related
component refers to the creative work. Here, effectiveness and efficiency largely depends on the persons involved in the
process.
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FOCUS PAPER The creative supply chain under control
Objective of process optimization is to provide a framework to the creative part of the work which provides enough
stability for standardization and at the same enough flexibility to optimally support the execution of creative work and
to allow that the available resources can be fully focused on the content. This means: minimal frictional losses, and total
focusing on the creative core mission of the marketing and communication spheres. With the help of specialized
software adapted to marketing and creative production this framework can be optimally supported.
A software solution that provides a framework for the execution of creative supply processes in marketing must master
the balancing act between standardization and flexibility. Standardization is required to work efficiently; flexibility is
needed to incorporate the specific aspects of each creative project to the degree necessary.
In the search for suitable software for marketing workflow management, there are several necessary prerequisites:
- Projects, workflows, and media must be centrally filed and accessible. This is best accomplished via client
server-based software or, even better, web-based software, so that users as well as outside service providers
such as agencies and printers can access their projects and the media via the Internet from any location.
- The online project platform for the creative supply chain must flexible enough to cover the job contents and the
processes specific both to the enterprise and to the project. This is the only way to achieve complete project
documentation and frictionless workflows, by, for example, providing standard workflows for each type of
media, so that e.g. print adverts automatically go to the appropriate approver, and online banners likewise are
automatically routed to the right contact person in the company.
- The processes shown must of course enable collaboration between the employees working on the project. As
these participants are both internal and external users, different access rights and project views are
indispensable. Role-based access capabilities meet this requirement.
- The review process must always be of the same simplicity, independent of the file format to be reviewed –
without additional file conversion and multiple saving of files. This way, a company saves a great deal of time
on the part of external service providers and internally.
But before any advantages of a software solution can take effect, the process must be highlighted and analyzed.
Thus, in the following, the standard creative process is outlined with its essential characteristics. Additional comments
give information as to how a software solution provides support in this step. It should be noted that the concrete
characteristics of an optimal process differ from company to company; depending, for example, on the kind and number
of external service providers, or on the organization of the approval processes. The following depiction is intended as an
aid to becoming aware of existing and optimal processes in your own company.
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FOCUS PAPER The creative supply chain under control
Process Component What happens in this step? What information is required? Who are the participants? How can software support the process?
New Project
Briefing and Quotes
Procurement and Creation
Review and Feedback
Assembly of the briefing for a new
project,
Internal coordination of given
guidelines and conditions.
The briefing is transmitted to one or
more of the selected service
providers (internal or external).
This is followed by visual inspection,
clarification of questions, and if
necessary, submitting a quote.
The production order is issued and
the actual creative process begins.
Designs and concepts are created,
commented upon, and revised.
Challenge: Feedback from various
persons must be consolidated; there
may be contradictions; back and
forth corrections; time loss.
As much as possible!
Basic information such as timing,
cost parameters, client, type of
media to be created.
Content-related information such
as overall concept, objectives,
channels to be activated, etc.
Available and appropriate service
providers and their contact data.
Offers and costs of various service
providers.
First ideas for realization.
Media designs must exist in a
format which makes it possible for
the client to provide feedback.
Change requests and feedback
about the designs.
Media designs in versions 1 to x.
Internal person in charge of
marketing and internal client (either
marketing itself or another
department; for example, sales and
distribution or product management).
Project manager and service
providers.
Project managers and selected
service providers.
Project managers and service
providers.
� Depending on the media, specific web-based data forms can
be provided (for example, advertisements, web banners,
brochures, etc.) which include all required information (for
example, printing parameters for printed media, and
technical data for online media).
� The completeness of this data can e.g. be defined as
prerequisite for the creation of an order.
� Service providers are stored in the software with their
histories and evaluations to support the selection process.
� Automatic transmittal of the complete briefing to selected
service providers, and automatic notification of project
managers in case of questions or submission of a quote.
� Assignment of contracts via software only allows selected
service providers continued access to the web-based job
file; the remaining service providers now can no longer view
the job.
� A software solution with a review tool allows viewing of
any file format and entry of comments in the form of virtual
sticky notes directly online. The service provider can directly
upload source files without file conversion.
� All participants review the same current media version, and
the comments of others are transparent and traceable.
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FOCUS PAPER The creative supply chain under control
Process Component What happens in this step? What information is required? Who are the participants? How can software support the process?
Corrections
Approval
Pre-Production / Typesetting
Production
The service provider makes required
corrections and provides a new
media version.
The client approves the medium for
production.
The released medium is given over
to production preparation or to
typesetting.
Review, correction and approval
steps follow as described above.
The project may be returned again
for new creation.
The medium is produced and
delivered to the client.
Cumulative correction requests and
changes, as well as the media
version with comments.
The new media version.
Final medium, final cost data,
timing.
The final media version, and as
necessary, also information on
corrections and changes as well as
releases.
Final media version and production
approval.
Assigned service providers.
Internal project employees, but also,
for example, technical approval by
project management, or legal
approval by legal department.
The producing service provider and
the internal project manager from
marketing.
Production service providers.
� Central and transparent entrainment of all comments to
each media version allows simple and structured
incorporation of changes.
� Updated media versions are provided directly via the
software, and replace manual sending via e-mail.
� The required approvals are obtained via the tool. At any
time, the status of missing approvals is visible.
� The software sends automatic reminders and information
notices on approvals.
� Automatic notification of the production service providers,
concerning an existing order.
� Correction copies, etc. for release can be provided via the
software.
� Following conclusion of the project, the job folder is closed
and archived in the software.
� The performance of the service provider can be assessed.
� Past orders remain traceable and transparent.
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FOCUS PAPER The creative supply chain under control
The use of suitable software for the management of creative workflows in marketing supports the realization of potential
savings, higher quality, and better timing of creation. The advantages in detail:
- more transparency for the process participants through traceability and documentation,
- better evaluation of weak points and risks; for example, more accurate estimation in advance of the time
needed for creation up to the delivery of the finished media,
- early recognition and solution of bottleneck situations by transparency over the entire volume of jobs,
- faster and more structured coordination via standardized processes, less complexity, and up-to-date
information,
- higher quality through complete information,
- flexible job handling by workflows and job files specific to different types of media,
- faster approvals,
- better communication within the team,
- Reduction of administrative costs (file format conversions, e-mail transmission).
Figure: Job overview and interactive review tool using the example of BrandMaker
Software solutions for workflow optimization in the creative supply chain are frequently inseparably connected to media
asset management, a central database for created media objects. This connection is recommended to companies that
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FOCUS PAPER The creative supply chain under control
strive for a complete integration of their creative processes, without media breaks and interface losses:
- The media asset management system is the central storage location for all media designs and for the final
media.
- It guarantees a transparent and correct version control.
- It provides further optimization of the creative processes through a direct connection with the desktop of the
designer allowing the interface-free uploading of data.
- Immediately following release, media are available in the media asset pool for intended users.
The scenario which is described here can be turned around from the point of view of the creative companies involved in
the value chain, because an optimized supply chain, on the basis of appropriate software, also offers increased potential
for these companies. If, for example, an agency or a printing service provider installs a web-based review tool in order to
present its customers media designs and correction copies for coordination, correction, and approval online via the tool,
the company provides itself with a considerable competitive advantage. For:
- A web-based review tool provides an incomparably comfortable possibility to view and comment media for
clients at the company side. No more umpteen megabytes in the in-box, no version chaos, no redundant
feedback on a now-obsolete design. Via web link, the client goes directly to the review tool and provides his/her
feedback.
- In addition to perfect customer service, a service provider can gain time for itself and its clients, since review
and correction cycles are accelerated.
- The service provider also retains the upper hand on source data of the designs, if this has been agreed upon with
the client.
- And: Service providers who are able to offer their clients more service, faster processes, and better timing, have
a notable and positive competitive edge in a hard-fought and crisis-prone market.
BrandMaker is the leading provider of Marketing Resource Management (MRM) systems in Europe. Established in 1999 as
pi-consult GmbH, the company has operated as BrandMaker GmbH since 2009; it focuses exclusively on the development
and marketing of demanding software solutions for the marketing communication of medium-sized and large
organizations. BrandMaker is headquartered in Karlsruhe and employs approximately 185 people. The software by the
same name is an extensive, modular MRM solution that optimizes the entire marketing process chain, makes operative
marketing easier, and significantly increase productivity in marketing. Among other things, there are BrandMaker
modules for the realization of brand portals, software-supported marketing planning, media asset management, the
automated creation of online and print media, as well as centrally-controlled local area marketing. Well-known
companies that use BrandMaker solutions in their communications and marketing departments include BASF, Bayer,
Commerzbank, DekaBank, Ernst & Young, EnBW, GLS, SaraLee, Schenker Deutschland, UBS, and ZF. As a subsidiary based
in Atlanta, Georgia, BrandMaker Inc. cultivates the American market.
www.brandmaker.com
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