It is the bain of every creative services director’s life but the cock-up is alive and kicking, according to a new study which claims 40% of brands and marketing agencies have published incorrect work and 17% duplicate their activity.
The research, carried out Screendragon – a specialist in process and project management software – blames a dire lack of sophistication when it comes to project management and the creative approvals process.
Two out of five brands and agencies (40%) admit that they have inadvertently published an incorrect piece of creative – anything from a typo in the copy to the wrong branding. In addition, one in six (17%) confess that unnecessary duplication of work happens frequently.
When it comes to creative approvals, only 17% of organisations have a dedicated software system to manage feedback and version control. The rest apparently rely either on multiple separate systems such as spreadsheets and cloud storage or on email trails.
In fact, one in nine marketing managers and agencies (11%) choose to rely solely on face to face approvals with no written or digital confirmation at all.
The survey, which quizzed of 220 clients and agencies, also found that email and Microsoft Excel are the two main software systems used by marketing teams and agencies to manage projects, and that less than half (44%) use dedicated project management tools.
However, eight out of ten respondents (79%) think it would save them both time and frustration if they were able to go to just one place to get their work done.
The lack of effective project and process management is causing problems for brands and agencies alike. A third of marketers (33%) admit that they lack standardised processes, while more than a third (34%) feel that work requests are not handled well in their organisation.
On top of which, almost three-quarters of brands and agencies (72%) don’t have one place, such as a dedicated online environment, where they and their partners can collaborate to ensure their work is properly aligned and integrated.
Fergus Ashe, VP client solutions at Screendragon, said: “This research shows that marketing teams and agencies still using working practices from the past century to manage their projects and processes.
“While their specialist project management counterparts have eagerly adopted dedicated software tools, it seems marketing teams continue to rely on email trails, spreadsheets and corporate intranets to share knowledge and control how their work is progressing. And the amount of duplicated work and error-strewn creative out there shows that it’s just not doing the job.
“Agencies and marketing managers willing to adopt more sophisticated methods of working are much better placed to handle the challenges and opportunities of the constantly changing digital world.”
