One of the joys of being CEO is looking into the proverbial crystal ball and planning staffing levels on accounts with limited information on future activity.
One thing we do know is that our business - now over 50% dedicated to managing online and lead gen programs - has shifted dramatically in terms of man hours required to run succesful campaigns. This change from even two years ago, when over 70% of our business was managing traditional print, out of home or radio campaigns, has led to very different work flow patterns. Whereas traditional media buying was front loaded, pre-buy, in terms of planning, execution and time investment - online media is weighted more heavily in terms of optimization, reporting, campaign management and analytics - mostly post-buy services.
The big problem for the CEO is gauging staffing levels on accounts where spends are migrating. One client this year shifted from 80/20 print to online to 35/75 towards online. Not only does this shift change the staffing needs it also requires different skill sets.
Another consideration is the nature of the buys. Many online campaigns are short and sharp. Briefs come in and plans go live in days rather than weeks. They stop just a quickly. The teams need to be agile but can be quiet for weeks and then slammed - especially at the end of each quarter when last minute budgets flow in from all sides.
Over the last 12 months we have added several new staff members all concentrating on online services but it's still a nightmare trying to juggle staff bandwidths to match workflow. It's not going to get any easier in 2008...
Do I get any sympathy?....as one of my team told me just last week - "that's why you get paid the big bucks...."
bugger - no sympathy there then !
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
We run into the same types of dynamic scheduling and resource planning requirements, although it's for overall marketing programs, rather than media buys. One process that has been ramped up significantly this year for us was outsourcing a lot of the marketing program executables--we rely heavily on external agencies for project-based work, that way I don't need to worry about hiring and firing. Plus you're usually hiring specialists, which can add a lot more depth to the process.
Post a Comment