Supercharge your creative work.
Tap into the right creative ops tools and processes.
Empowering creativity through streamlined creative operations
Creative ops play an important role in supporting creativity by streamlining processes and reducing logistical barriers. Adobe Workfront helps creative teams focus on their work, enhancing efficiency and collaboration. Key elements include resource management, clear communication, and automation, which foster an environment where creativity can thrive.
In an increasingly competitive business landscape, fostering creativity within an organization is crucial, particularly in areas like marketing, advertising, and branding. The right content can mean the success or failure of a product launch, a marketing campaign, or even a company itself.
It may seem counterintuitive to some, but creativity is far likelier to thrive in environments where effective structures, processes, and metrics are in place. And that’s where creative operations, commonly referred to as “creative ops,” come into play. We recently sat down with three creative ops professionals to learn more about their work and how they empower creativity in their organizations.
- Amara Cusella, Creative Program Manager and Marketing Manager, Leading Technology Company
- Austin Haycock, Senior Manager, Marketing Program Management, Adobe
- Austin Smith, Senior Creative Video Manager, Commercial Products, Micron Technology
The purpose of creative ops is to make it as easy as possible for creatives to do their best work. It supports the creative work that an organization must perform in order to survive by streamlining the processes that guide work, giving creatives the right tools, removing workflow barriers, and establishing metrics that can be used to measure project performance.
“Creatives already have so much on their plate,” says Cusella. “Our job in creative ops is essentially creating a path for them to move forward in—creative ops processes optimize efficiency and creative talent. When good, streamlined processes are in place, that’s when inspiration and motivation can flow because creative workers don't have to worry about all the logistics.”
Haycock agrees, adding, “The aim is to create an empowering, single source of truth where the creative team can thrive, dedicating their energy to innovative tasks without being sidetracked by administrative details or logistical issues.”
The power of creative ops can remove barriers to creativity.
Studies say that as much as 70% of creatives’ time is spent on noncreative work—everything from dealing with clarifying requests to managing review and approval processes. And when creative workers are responding to emails and corralling stakeholders, they can’t focus on their primary work.
“The review and approval process is probably the biggest struggle I have,” says Smith. “Working with a lot of different product managers, digital marketing teams, channel marketing, and so on seems to be our biggest struggle as far as workloads. I’ve found that the best way to relieve this pressure is to create processes that become almost autonomous—something that is just part of their daily activity, rather than something that they have to think through and figure out on their own.”
The review process can be a challenge for Cusella as well. “Reviews and approvals are always tricky, especially with multiple stakeholders. Using the integrated set of Adobe tools is super important and gives creatives more time to do their work. Everyone has visibility, and creatives don’t have to chase down the things they’re looking for…Adobe products do a really good job of keeping everything and everyone on the same page.”
The review process can be a challenge for Cusella as well. “Reviews and approvals are always tricky, especially with multiple stakeholders. Using the integrated set of Adobe tools is super important and gives creatives more time to do their work. Everyone has visibility, and creatives don’t have to chase down the things they’re looking for…Adobe products do a really good job of keeping everything and everyone on the same page.”
What the right creative ops processes and tools can do for creative teams.
The demand for creative assets is higher than ever. As companies are increasingly able to gather granular information about their customers, they find new ways to segment and target those customers with personalized advertising, which requires more creative assets. And creative processes across large organizations can become highly complex and spread across multiple applications, modes of communication, and places of storage. This can lead to inefficient workflows, bottlenecks, and collaboration roadblocks.
“As a global enterprise, our international creative teams, marketing channel owners, and suppliers work tirelessly to meet the rising demand for content. Using Workfront Fusion, along with robust governance and streamlined processes, we've accelerated global operations and achieved consistency in how we intake new work requests, set up, track, and deliver projects. We’ve also centralized our creative review process with Workfront Proof and enhanced our campaign planning, activation, and targeting with Workfront Planning,” Haycock said.
So when considering creative ops tools and processes, look for those that:
- Reduce inefficiencies and close technology gaps
- Encourage collaboration within a centralized platform
- Offer customization to let creatives work in the ways they want
- Meet security and compliance requirements
- Allow you to measure and analyze data about your work and resources
With the increased demand for personalization and highly targeted marketing and advertising, automation is also crucial.
The key elements of successful creative ops.
When we asked our panel to name two or three key elements of creative ops, their answers aligned around three ideas—resource management, better communication, and increased efficiency.
For Cusella, interpersonal skills are also at the top of the list. “Being able to build a strong team and processes that work for everyone and having the self-awareness to know when something isn’t working. I also think that having a shared vision between creative ops, marketing, and the entire org in general is really impactful, as is the ability to effectively delegate and allocate work—and cost too, of course.”
Smith adds, “It’s important to find the right people, and then it’s about communicating with them, having that shared vision, and making sure that you have the necessary resources…I’m not a big fan of the ‘one-person-can-do-it-all’ mindset. I think finding the people with the right skillsets to do particular jobs has been where I’ve found the most success over the past few years.”
Also crucial for Smith? “Blunt honesty and clear communication with requesters.”
Haycock identifies three pillars of success—people, processes, and technology. He explains, “to be productive, you need the right people in place, who understand their roles and responsibilities. It means getting your workflows streamlined and working within systems that keep content organized and easy to access.”
With the integration of Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Experience Manager, and Adobe Workfront, Adobe has created a unified, cohesive ecosystem where cross-functional teams and creatives can be both very creative and very productive.
“I adore Workfront. I love that it can encompass an entire process completely—from start to finish. All stakeholders can have visibility. It not only integrates with content creation but also integrates with analytics and approvals,” Cusella says. “Workfront is kind of a best friend to every creative ops manager. It really goes with you every step of the way and integrates with so many different applications that it’s almost impossible for something to get lost or for something to go unseen.”
As the ways we do creative work change ever more rapidly, this visibility is crucial—remote, dispersed teams require even more creative ops support if they are to work together effectively.
Sources
“Helping athletes achieve their dreams,” Adobe customer story for Dick’s Sporting Goods, October 13,2022.
“How MLB Is Revolutionizing Fan Personalization at Scale - S810,” Adobe Summit, 48:15, August 13, 2023.
“In store. Online. The Home Depot inspires the entire experience,” Adobe customer story for Home Depot, August 12, 2022.
“Innovations in Customer Engagement and Personalized Journeys - S809,” Adobe Summit, 53:39, April 13, 2023.
“TSB banks on real-time data personalization for every customer,” Adobe customer story for TSB, August 29,2022.
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