WWW.MEDIAPOST.COM
Free Up Buyers And Planners For More Strategizing
by Jack Loechner, Tuesday, June 29, 2010 2:30 PM
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/BuyingYears% 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 WorkSpend 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outdated technologies and a disproportionate amount of time devoted to the execution of administrative and logistical tasks versus strategic thinking and planning for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 ActivitiesHours% (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
.