The pandemic has had a profound impact on creatives, with two-thirds reporting that their workload has increased this year compared to before the pandemic. This is per a report [download page] from Screendragon, which also indicates that creatives are spending an average of two days each week performing non-creative work.
The increase in workload has led more organizations to implement a creative operations role. About two-thirds (67%) of respondents surveyed say their company has a dedicated creative ops role. This is compared to 18% who said the same in 2018.
There has also been an increase in companies that measure the value of creative operations. A little more than half (52%) of creatives say they measure creative operations, an increase from 2020 (46%) and 2019 (34%). An earlier report from InMotionNow also showed an increase in organizations with robust operations reporting.
About three-quarters (73%) of respondents say their creative team produces reports on operational metrics. One-third do so on a monthly basis, while some 14% produce a report at least once a week, and 1 in 10 do so once a quarter.
There has also been an uptick in the use of project management software among creatives. Some 55% say they are now using this software to manage their creative brief process, up almost 20% from last year. That said, 3 in 10 (29%) are still relying on email to manage their creative brief process.
Alongside this increased use of project management software, more than half (53%) have implemented new software tools to help manage creative operations. However, 6 in 10 (59%) indicated that difficulty finding a tool that meets their requirements is their biggest challenge when searching for a software tool for creative operations.
Finally, there may be some relief in sight for those creatives feeling the strain of increased workload. More than three-quarters expect that their creative team will grow in the next year.
The full report can be found here.
About the Data: Results are based on a survey of more than 100 respondents working in creative and marketing roles.
