The Importance of a Content Production Strategy

The world of advertising production, and the roles of the companies who inhabit it used to be clearly defined. There once was a tried-and-tested linear process of baton-passing from brands to agencies to production vendors. Agencies (as their name suggests) acted as agents and simplified the process of engaging and organizing multiple production vendors to carry out numerous specialist production and post-production tasks to achieve the finished product – the TV ad.

Now, the advertising production world is quite different, but the process hasn’t changed much. And it is desperate to change – and change dramatically. Technology and other catalysts have influenced new ways for consumers to engage with brands and there is now an unprecedented demand for content in a host of forms. The quality, the cost and speed at which we create content are all being challenged.

Huge Increase in Content Pushes the Budget Capacity

This exponential increase in the demand for relevant, quality content does not bring with its corresponding growth in budgets, so marketers are asking, “How do we create more content and create compelling stories within the same budget?”

New World, New Rules

As demand has increased, so has supply, and a new order is emerging. Add to this the fact that the linear (baton-passing) nature of the ‘old world’ simply can’t scale to keep up with content demands of today. The traditional advertising production model is broken, and a more agile approach is essential to remain competitive, responsive and effective.  Some noticeable changes include (1) Agencies are producing themselves to create additional revenue streams to counter client pressure on fees, (2) Brands have brought agencies and studios in-house in order to speed up the process and create cost savings (3) Consumers are generating content; brands are using crowd-sourcing companies and engaging influencers to make content. Even the media companies, media platforms and news room studios– like the NY Times and the BBC are producing content for brands!

The production process is no longer linear, boundaries have been blurred and erased and there is more than one way for marketers to achieve the best work. In this new world, every marketer has the opportunity to define a unique approach to their creative eco-system. This starts with a Content Production Strategy.

The Need for a Content Production Strategy

Given the landscape described above, played out to a soundtrack of opinion, speculation and conjecture, over heady topics such as “The Death of TV,” “The Decline of the Holding Companies” and “Data is Everything,” defining a content production strategy can be a daunting prospect.

However, without a Content Production Strategy, you’re likely to produce too many assets at too high a cost, or create assets that already exist, resulting in waste. The need for structure and planning therefore becomes abundantly clear. It is imperative to work out what to produce and how to produce it most effectively to make every effort count to get you the most bang for your buck. So, where to start? 

We Need More Flexibility

We need to modernize the way we produce content to support the new world of data driven, dynamic, engaging content for quality, effective storytelling we need to make room for a flexible, plug and play eco-system so that we can tap into the right type of company for the right work and work with the best in class creative resources. It’s safe to assume that given the changes and new companies out there, all of your creative needs will not be found within one holding company, one in-house team or one management consultancy gone creative/technology. A flexible, “plug and play” model is necessary.

Approaching a Content Production Strategy

Keeping abreast of advertising production approaches, companies, process and technology is a monumental challenge for brands seeking to optimize. The best way to start is by bringing all of your creative teams together and challenging them to help design and pilot some new approaches. A Content Production Strategy is the framework to a fully Optimized Creative Production Ecosystem.