September 7, 2010
Often in-house creative shops blur the distinction between account and project management since they are perceived to be similar, but, in truth, the two roles are quite different. They require different skill sets and different focuses – and there is even a natural tension between the two functions in providing good service to clients. Account management is all about strategic management: understanding client needs, defining solutions for those needs, “selling” those solutions to the client and advocating for that solution during the creative process. Project management is all about the details: tasks, resources, deadlines, accuracy and coordination between different process participants.
August 30, 2010
Often when I work with marketing and creative services organizations, a piece of technology that is usually missing is Dynamic Authoring, or Content software. For some reason, there isn’t recognition of the value of this tool outside of generating things like direct mail or email campaigns. So, here’s another take on the value of these tools.
August 23, 2010
As the economy struggled across the better part of the last decade and developing nations proved able to take on business services in addition to production tasks, outsourcing and offshoring conversations and activities increased. Business leaders looking to take advantage of the cost savings have asked their business unit heads to identify opportunities to offshore activities within their departments. These asks have not excluded creative departments and multimedia design and development and graphic design have been specifically targeted.
August 1, 2010
In-house creative services teams with an hourly chargeback model must track their time—often to the quarter-hour increment. The discipline of time tracking can be off-putting for many teams at first, but the advantages of time tracking can’t be ignored, and teams generally support the practice once they understand the potential outcomes.
July 19, 2010
Internal creative organizations often struggle with whether they should be charging clients and if so, at what rate. This doesn’t seem like a complex challenge, until you try to solve it! In this post I’ll touch on good reasons for implementing a chargeback model, costs that should be considered for inclusion, key considerations, and implementation tips.
June 21, 2010
In-house creative groups have plenty of challenges working with their customers, who range from marketing managers to technical experts to the CEO’s executive admin. These customers often look at the creative group as a free support resource and picture them just sitting by the phone or computer waiting for their favorite customer to call with a pet project that just happens to be needed yesterday.
June 7, 2010
Many in-house creative services and communications groups grew organically as a result of an organizational unit deciding to hire a few people to do more cheaply (and perhaps more quickly) what the company was paying external agencies to do. The overwhelming majority of such groups start small with informal roles and processes.
June 5, 2010
Speak to any executive, regardless of industry, and they’ll always be fascinated to hear how other companies run similar functions. When used correctly, benchmarking can be an extremely effective learning and validation tool for leaders who are trying to improve their corporate operation.
May 24, 2010
Recently, I had an opportunity to speak with the manager of the creative services group at Saint-Gobain, and I think his story from the past few years can provide some encouragement to other in-house creative leaders who are continuing to experience the pressures of a down economy.
May 17, 2010
There is currently a lot of buzz about using social media for marketing by encouraging grassroots enthusiasm for a company’s products. Much has been written and discussed about various tactics for effective use of social media marketing.
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