Business area digitalisation analysis

Marketing, creative and communication services: digitalisation opportunities

How to better manage briefs, creative process, content versions, rights, approvals, campaigns, results and project profitability

Digital maturity

Typical digital maturity

Shows the level of digitalisation companies in this line of business typically operate at.

The assessment considers use of core systems, how far processes are digitalised, integrations, data readiness and advanced use of data.

A 3 means ordinary, middling maturity. A 5 is given only where real-time data, automated decisions and advanced optimisation are already a routine part of core operations.

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Digitalisation potential

Digitalisation potential

Shows the scale of business impact digitalisation could have in this line of business.

It weighs economic leverage, the scope for digital impact, the scale and repetition of processes, value lost today, and the leverage of better data and decisions.

A business area’s score is calculated from five weighted dimensions. A sector’s score is derived from the scores of its business areas.

92/100
Biggest challenge
Briefs and success criteria are formulated inconsistently
Biggest opportunity
One managed process from brief to measurable business outcome

The greatest results are not created by higher content production volumes, but by a better-managed creative system that helps maintain brand consistency, rapidly test ideas and link the work to the client's business outcomes.

How marketing, creative and communication services work

The business area encompasses services of a different nature, but they are united by the brief, strategy, creative and content production, review, approval, publication, campaign optimisation and results analysis. Value is created through competence, reliable data, consistent execution, quality control and a clear outcome delivered to the client.

The creative process generates many versions

A single solution is adapted across channels, formats, languages and audiences, so version control quickly becomes complex.

Client approval is a critical part of the work

Unclear comments, delayed decisions and multiple approvers directly affect deadlines, scope and margin.

Content rights and usage restrictions must be traceable

The rights to photographs, music, talent, fonts, AI content and other resources may vary by channel, country and period.

Results are difficult to evaluate using communication KPIs alone

Reach or clicks do not always reflect impact on sales, enquiries, awareness or other client objectives.

Market and technology context

Generative AI drastically reduces baseline content creation costs, so competitive value shifts to quality of strategy, distinctive creative direction, brand consistency, content rights control, experimentation discipline and the ability to demonstrate real business impact.

  • Growth in content volumeChannels, formats, audiences and localisations are multiplying, so manual version and adaptation management no longer scales.
  • Expansion of generative AIDrafts and variants are created faster, but the need for factual, rights, brand and quality control increases.
  • Client expectation to see progress and resultsClients expect to see tasks, approvals, campaign status and interpretation of results in one place.
  • Data and privacy constraintsAudience, advertising and analytics data must be used lawfully, securely and with sufficient reliability.
  • Pressure on service marginsFaster content production does not mean greater profitability if scope, revisions, adaptations and client changes are not managed.

Typical operating process

01

Client objective and brief qualification

The business objective, audience, message, channels, budget, constraints, approvers and success criteria are defined.

02

Strategy and creative direction

Analysis is conducted, insights, ideas, creative directions and a testing plan are developed.

03

Creative and content production

Copy, designs, video materials, adaptations, translations and technical formats are prepared.

04

Review, rights and approval

Brand, facts, legal aspects, content rights, versions and the client decision are checked.

05

Publishing and campaign management

Content is published across channels, budgets, audiences, experiments and operational exceptions are managed.

06

Results analysis and next action

Data is consolidated, impact, project economics are evaluated and decisions are made on what to continue, change or discontinue.

Digital maturity model

0

Manual and fragmented process

Briefs, files, comments and approvals scattered across email, chats and personal directories.

1

Separate digital tools in use

Project and creative tools are used, but final versions, rights and client decisions are not managed consistently.

2

Core stages digitalised

Creative, publishing or reporting stages are digitalised, but the entire content lifecycle and project economics are not yet connected.

3

Core service scenario connected Typical current situation

One content or campaign scenario is managed from approved brief through to version, rights verification, publishing and outcome.

4

Data-driven service

Creative and campaign activity is managed according to unified flow, quality, reuse, business impact and margin data.

5

Predictable and safely automated activity Target

AI safely creates and adapts content, whilst the system optimises production and channels according to clear human approval boundaries.

Key finding

The digitalisation potential for marketing and creative services is very high, as a large proportion of the work is performed digitally and consists of repeating brief, content version, approval, publishing and reporting processes.

The biggest challenge is not a lack of creative tools in use. Briefs, comments, files, rights, campaign plans, results and project economics often remain in separate systems, leading to significant time lost in coordination.

It is advisable to implement the scenario 'One content workflow from brief to approval' first. Only once real-world usage, quality control and economic benefit have been validated is it worthwhile extending the solution to other services, clients or more advanced AI scenarios.

Related digitalisation topics

Creative process managementDigital asset managementClient collaboration portalsMarketing data analyticsManaged generative AI

An assessment of where the most time and project margin are lost in the creative and campaign process

A review of briefs, creative versions, comments, approvals, content rights, publication, campaign data and project economics to help select one first stage whose benefits can be clearly measured.