The Divide Between Media and Creative

With brands trying to find new budget efficiencies, many are consolidating their media and creative with one agency. I couldn't be more happy with this trend. In my experience, it is the collaboration that occurs when Media and Creative professionals get together that results in the most creative, most effective work. A creative who has input into the media vehicles used, the type of ad types that will be created and who fully understands the media plan is more educated and has more ownership in the overall campaign. The same works for the Media team.

That said, some Media and Creative folks just don't know how to work together. It's not that they don't care, or are completely unwilling, rather, I believe it is simply a lack of understanding. While at BuderEngel, it was apparent that the Media team was very interested in working with the creative teams. But, unbelievably, they didn't understand the process in which creative was developed and seemed to be unwilling to raise their hand and ask questions. This lack of communication was also seen on the account and creative side. It wasn't the fault of one, but rather the unwillingness of all parties to raise their hand and ask questions.

It is in the best interest of the agency and its clients that the divide between Media and Creative ends as quickly as possible. Below are some easy ways to help close the gap....

1. Involve both parties in the initial internal sessions, even before a brief has ever been created.
2. Speaking of briefs, involve both parties in its development and internal approval processes.
3. Create open lines of communication between the creative team and the media planners. Encourage them to bounce ideas off of one another.
4. Start the media planning process early enough to allow any creative executions to affect the ad placements that are bought.

I am just scratching the surface here and will put some more thought into how to address this issue..... More to come.