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With fragmentation impacting the world of ad production, many marketers are grappling with how to get the most out of their ad spend. Jillian Gibbs, CEO and founder of Advertising Production Resources (APR) hosted a webinar this week (available for download for ACA members only) to help marketers navigate this space. Here are the top 10 global production trends for 2015 she and her team identified.

1. Decoupling in Practice

We looked back at the realities of client-led production from 2014 and found that the devil is in the details. What works for some advertisers does not necessarily work for others. Marketers are figuring out what’s realistic for their culture.

2. Need for More Content

The overarching trend is that marketers need more content, and they need to reduce the cost of production so they can experiment, modify and change their messaging quickly.

3. Using Social Influencers

Social Influencers are an increasingly popular way for advertisers to promote and produce targeted and timely content to niche markets. The questions for marketers are: Do they hire the influencer as talent, and then hire a producer to produce the content in the old model? Or, do they hire the influencer to create content as they wish?

4. Integrated Productions

Integrated production was a big trend last year! APR worked with the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) and some brave clients to begin to define best practices and processes. It may seem obvious to produce as much content as you can for use in all media channels; however, this isn’t commonplace in the agency world.

5. Agency In-House Production

More and more agencies are entering the post and production communities by bringing work in-house. The cost of entry is much lower today as the cost of cameras and editing software is less expensive compared to 10 years ago. In house agency production often leads to less transparency and most marketers need a more clearly defined production strategy to navigate this new model.

6. Drones

Drone (a.k.a. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or System – UAV or UAS) usage in commercial production is increasing exponentially and it’s important to understand the regulations in various regions. Advertisers must determine how to take advantage of this new technology while adhering to guidelines set by each territory’s civil aviation regulatory agency (US/FAA, UK/CAA, EU/EASA, etc.).

7. Experiential

Marketers are finding themselves managing a whole new media type: experiences. Determining best practices and optimized processes is a challenge in a space which is evolving at a breakneck speed.

8. Measurements and Benchmarking

Without the 4A’s cost survey, how are brands benchmarking? Not that the 4A’s survey was optimal in any way, but it was something! We look at the tools used by advertisers for measurement and benchmarking. One finding is that most efforts are currently more granular and siloed and do not provide big-picture findings. Of specific note: evolving new ways to benchmark is more important now as digital spend increases and web videos become more prevalent.

9. Revenue Sharing, Commissions and the Like

Along with consolidation comes another trend marketers must watch out for: revenue sharing (also known as kickbacks). Some vendors in the supply chain are forming partnerships that benefit one another and do not deliver benefit to the advertiser.

10. Usage Rights Strategies

Along with managing assets, marketers must also determine their strategy for how best to manage or negotiate the options/rights for both talent and music. There are many things to consider but the savvy marketer is learning how to negotiate for reuse and repurpose of these rights across multiple media types, and global markets.

Jillian Gibbs
Jillian Gibbs is the CEO and Founder of Advertising Production Resources, a global consultancy that works with advertisers to produce content across all media. A PDF of the APR presentation is available to ACA members in the webinar archives.