Free Up Buyers And Planners For More Strategizing

by Jack Loechner, Jun 29, 2010, 2:30 PM

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According to new Centro research designed to spotlight various aspects of digital media planning efficiency and workforce productivity in the online advertising workplace, the results offer some empirical evidence illustrating the need for more streamlined digital media processes.

Two hundred eighty-eight media professionals responded to survey questions, which was hosted on a third-party survey site from May 11-14, 2010. In response to spend more time on strategic work in lieu of the distraction of "managing administrative and logistical activities," ...

Respondent Years Working In Media Planning/Buying
Years	% of Respondents
0-1	3.5%
2-3	20.5%
4-5	24.0%
6-7	11.1%
8+	41.0%
Source: Centro, June 2010

 

Preference for More Time Allocated to Highly Strategic Work
Spend More Time?	% of Respondents
Strongly agree	38.5%
Agree	46.9
Neutral	11.5
Disagree	3.1
Source: Centro, June 2010

According to the study findings:

• ·      85% of respondents would like to spend more time on highly strategic work, but are required to devote the bulk of their time to managing administrative or logistical activities
• ·      43% of the industry spends more than four hours a day working in Excel
• ·      49% of the industry spends more than four hours composing or responding to email strictly for work purposes
• ·      45% of media planning professionals work more than 10 hours per day
• ·      40% Of the respondents have been in the industry for 8 or more years

Responses indicate antiquated processes and legacy software contribute to struggles of digital media professionals, including long workdays, outdated technologies and a disproportionate amount of time devoted to the execution of administrative and logistical tasks versus strategic thinking and planning for clients.

Hours Per Day Spent Using Excel And Other Tools To Manage Media Buying Activities
Hours	% (of 288) Respondents Using Excel	% (of 288) Using Additional Tools
0-1	14.9%	21.5
2-3	42.0%	56.9
4-5	30.2%	17.7
6-7	9.0%	2.8
Source: Centro, June 2010

Also indicative of the lack of efficiency is the fact that each day, 43% of media planners spend over four hours working in Excel spreadsheets and 49% spend over four hours composing and responding to emails.

The conclusion can be drawn that nearly half of each workday is spent utilizing legacy technologies to conduct administrative tasks, leaving little time for strategy and client services.

Shawn Riegsecker, president and founder, Centro, concludes that "... the digital media industry is still reliant on tools that were the standard over a decade ago... media planners are struggling with long workdays and a disproportionate amount of time devoted to logistics... streamlining workflow and processes through software automation... (would) allow teams to focus on more strategic and creative activities... "

For additional information about the survey, please visit Centro here.

  

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