We live by the notification pop-ups on our phones. We can process business deals, order dinner, track our heart rates, and video chat with friends in different time zones across the world -- all from this one device. Because of this, information is simultaneously found, shared, read, and watched as awareness is being generated and decisions are being formed. There is an opportunity for brands to become publishers and storytellers across all channels and live inside this device that we carry with us everywhere we go. However, many organizations are left wondering: how do we create the volume of content our customers are demanding?
Creating an Agile Content Stream
Major media companies like Mashable, The Huffington Post, and Buzz Feed push out over one hundred articles and videos per day. They’re flooding the ecosystem and their content is universal. Their articles are being shared through social media and are appearing in searches across the web. If you look at these media companies, the one thing they all have in common is agility. Building out an agile workflow for content creation and distribution is key to executing at this speed. Studies show that it can take traditional marketing departments three-to-six months internally to create one piece of content. So how do companies make the switch?
Red Bull is an example of a brand-turned-media company. Red Bull Media’s quality and depth of content which ranges from skating videos to skydives from space rivals that of cable networks. However, Red Bull’s narrative is not about energy drinks- it’s about empowerment and adventure. Instead of contracting an agency for this work, many organizations are bringing content creation in-house for that very reason-- internal staff understand the core brand better than anyone else. I’ve always believed that a brand is not a website, a color, or a design. It isn’t even a name. A company's brand is the meaning behind its mission and values. Internal staff are living and breathing this and can translate this message from the inside out.
Organizations that control content creation from their in-house creative team benefit from cross-channel learnings and usually experience performance gains. Rather than keeping marketing budgets segmented with a myriad of third parties, these in-house teams can gather insights from one media channel and apply them to another. In my experience, in-house teams thrive on diving into data to own and improve the outcomes of future campaigns and marketing initiatives. In-house teams can test more, test faster, and scale at will. Not only this, but in-house teams can control the continuity of the brand which can be challenging when working with multiple third parties. If you have a different vendor for your digital media than you do for your print, events, and webcasts - it’s going to be tough to create that consistent narrative across the board.
Building A Successful In-House Team
To be successful in building an in-house creative team, hiring people from journalism, digital media, and storytelling backgrounds makes all the difference. That’s where we come in. TeamPeople is known for building new media teams and re-organizing existing ones. We’ve worked with some of the best-known brands in the world to determine the right people, process, and technology. Research prepared by the In-House Agency Forum (iHaf) states, 67% of in-house agencies say they are not staffed to meet the current demands of the business. In addition to this, 2/3 of in-house agencies admit they are missing critical areas such as research, insights, and billing.
If you have the right people, building out the right technology and workflow infrastructure comes next. The advancements in technology over the last few years have permeated every aspect of the creative and production processes. Bringing a state-of-the-art production/broadcast facility inside your organization will wildly increase production quality and productivity. With our widespread pool of talent, we have the thought leaders needed to bring next-generation studio designs and workflows to our clients. TeamPeople works with many Fortune 500 companies to operate their in-house studios and create stories to be shared with global audiences. It’s not surprising that 49% of CEOs rank “improving operational effectiveness” as a top priority this year. It’s because of this focus and organizational need that we work closely with many of our clients to augment content creation workflows and keep up with content delivery dynamics with OTT and other platforms.
By creating a centralized content studio in-house, our clients are experiencing high-quality content, higher-performing campaigns, and creating a consistent brand narrative while saving over 30% in overall costs. By finding the right people and implementing the right technology infrastructure, organizations can build out streamlined processes that allow for agile content creation and distribution. Contemplating bringing your creative team in-house? We are experts in flexible multimedia, digital, creative, and AV support staffing as well as the tools required to get the job done. Want to pick our brain on this topic? Get in touch!
