shoot ‘in or Shoot ‘out?

channels and contents have grown at the speed of light over the past decade and very often out of control thanks to e-commerce and social media stratospheric growth. As a result, nearly all of our assignments involve a thorough analysis of our clients’ assets’ production schemes (make/buy amongst many other key topics), and generate significant improvement in marketing, commercial, operational and financial performances etc.

FAQs
Why internalize?

• Increase reactivity and thus, improve time-to-market
• Cost optimization and monitoring
• Improve ROI
• Generate automation in anchoring activities
• Unify and strengthen brand equity management
• International development

How shall I consolidate relevant data to build a strong business case?

• Volumes by nature (pack shots, still life, models vs stockman, etc.)
• Map each channel’s organization, consumption, multiple uses, last minute calls, processes and sourcing
• Competences… a lot of marketing departments underestimate the level of knowledge and expertise (operational, market, products, brand, etc.) that have shifted out of the organization and are now firmly in the hands of a few suppliers …
• Models’ and rights’ negotiation and management
• Post production schemes and tools
• Logistics (studio, samples and equipment delivery, storage, labelling, shooting equipment, etc.)

What is my current TCO?

Once shooting costs per say are identified, look for hidden costs and processes, identify the by-passes suppliers and team members have organized over time which have become their routine …
Another tricky issue involves rights’ negotiation and management when incorporating some, or all of the processes, can be a significant lever with a strong business case.
All these represent significant hidden costs to factor into your TCO before pushing for some internalization.
Whilst volumes might be quite comparable, we have identified significant TCO variations from one company to another in the same industry

Attention points:

1. Brand equity and quality management
> Creative agency SOW and collaboration pattern with other suppliers and internal production team
> Internal competence to manage relationship and drive production, internal and external contributions
> Rules and guidelines in writing

2. Implement a full web collaborative tool adapted to your needs:
>   Product identification with gencode (already existed, or to create)
>   Design preparation (sets, bundle, checking, ironing…)
>   Implement a simple and adaptive tool
>   Centralize production follow-up (samples management, prototypes, sets, bundles products, scheduling shoots …)
>   Share the visuals
>   Indexing the visuals (depending on all the shots charts)
>   Retouching (basic, complex, volumes and deadlines)
>   Formats conversion
>   Remote validation
>   Automation when limited creative input (remember: 75% of the time on anchoring)

3. Implement a dedicated team dimensioned to tailor needs and seasonality.  

4. Key roles are:
>   Traffic manager (managing inflows and outflows)
>   Logistics manager
>   Photograph
>   Designer
>   Make-up and hair artist
>   Retoucher/Graphist

How to generate the mandatory buy-in?
Again, change management is at work here.
Let’s remember that irrespective of the industry they work in, a large majority of CMOs (over 70%) believe their teams spend an estimated average of 75% of their time on anchoring campaigns. Initiating a make or buy project on shooting production and management is a change management project first and foremost.
Also, remember Keynes’ words: new ideas are not the toughest part of change, it is giving up ancient habits and ideas that is, and will or not allow and materialize a successful effective change.
The case for change must be strongly nurtured and therefore placed at the center of the initial stage of the project, on a very inclusive basis with a broad list of stakeholders in and out of the organization.