Project management and resource management tools were the most popular solutions when we last surveyed the creative operations industry. The year was 2021 and the pandemic was still top-of-mind. In the same survey, we learned that half our respondents had implemented new software that year to help manage creative work. Maybe that was related to the 66% of creatives that revealed workloads were on the rise?
After a brief hiatus for 2022, the State of Creative Operations survey is back. This year’s report will pull pack the curtain on the creative workspace and find out what makes teams tick in 2023. On that note, it’s time to see what the post COVID creative operations industry looks like.
What is the industry outlook?
We want to know what the creative landscape looks in 2023. Did your team hire new staff in 2022? Or did your team downsize? Additionally, we will plot the course for the year ahead looking at hiring plans, freelancer usage, and offshoring regularity. Rumours of recession and downsizing have afflicted the creative operations discourse for the last 12 months. However, we are seeing positive signs from the market too. So, is it time for creatives to tighten the belt or loosen the screw?
How are creatives working in 2023?
How much time do creatives still spend on non-creative work? We’ll be answering this question to see whether respondents have found ways to prioritise their creative efforts since our last survey. For example in 2021, 25% of creatives spent more than 2 days per week on non-creative work. That’s more than 40% of the working week dedicated to tasks that do not help creative output.
What’s more, we’ll also be examining creative stimulants, most common challenges, contemporary workspaces, and more. Find out what how creative work is produced in 2023, what helps it flourish, and what can inhibit it.
What are the most common communication practices?
The State of Creative Operations in 2023 will examine how creative teams are communicating, sharing ideas, submitting briefs, and collaborating with partners. Are creatives still using the same communication channels as before? What’s the most common form of receiving a brief?
Furthermore, we will find out if collaboration is easier or more difficult in 2023. We found that many creative teams struggled in 2021 to communicate effectively while working remotely. Has the creative world fully adapted to remote collaboration?
What technologies are creatives reliant on?
The creative tech stack is continually evolving as the industry embraces automation and systemic processes. On that note, we will find out what technologies are essential for creative teams in 2023. Is work management software now ubiquitous? Do any creatives still depend on old school Excel and Email methods? Lastly, we are very interested to see whether AI has become a part of the creative toolkit in 2023.
How do I take the Creative Operations survey?
The survey is now open for submissions. Respondents will get early access to the report and kept informed about upcoming analysis. It only takes 5 minutes to complete the survey so why not join the #CreativeOps2023 discussion?
The #1 Resource Management Solution on G2
The #1 Resource Management Software
With 20 years’ experience in the creative world, Screendragon stands out as the solution of choice for many leading global agencies and pioneering independent agencies.
Screendragon’s resource management capabilities are wide-ranging and transformational. Clients love our drag ‘n’ drop scheduling, real time resource calendar, AI assisted talent management, projectpipeline and capacity planning, and powerful resourcing analytics and reports.
Screendragon holds the exclusive ‘Most Likely to Recommend’ award for the Professional Services Automation category on G2. (mention competitors)
Ease of use, meeting requirements, and quality of support are key components of the award winning Screendragon solution. As you will see in the grid, Screendragon is a software and service that is valued by clients. Our NPS score of 9.5 is the joint highest in the market!
We simplify operations. Screendragon displaces disparate and siloed systems with one centralised tool to manage your work.
Our passion for design, client first approach, easy implementation, and cutting-edge technology are transforming agency operations and our clients love us for it! Why not find out why we're the #1 Resource Management solution and #1 for Professional Services?
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The #1 Resource Management Solution for Agencies
The #1 Resource Management Software
With 20 years’ experience in the creative world, Screendragon stands out as the solution of choice for many leading global agencies and pioneering independent agencies.
Screendragon’s resource management capabilities are wide-ranging and transformational. Agencies love our drag ‘n’ drop scheduling, real time resource calendar, AI assisted talent management, projectpipeline and capacity planning, and powerful resourcing analytics and reports.
Screendragon holds the exclusive ‘Most Likely to Recommend’ award for the Professional Services Automation category on G2. (mention competitors)
Ease of use, meeting requirements, and quality of support are key components of the award winning Screendragon solution. As you will see in the grid, Screendragon is a software and service that is valued by clients. Our NPS score of 9.5 is the joint highest in the market!
We simplify operations. Screendragon displaces disparate and siloed systems with one centralised tool to manage your work.
Our passion for design, client first approach, easy implementation, and cutting-edge technology are transforming agency operations and our clients love us for it! Why not find out why we're the #1 Resource Management solution and #1 for Professional Services?
Screendragon is thrilled to welcome Bulletproof to our client list of superstar independent agencies. Set up in 1998, the now 300 strong agency is “a creative force, run by creatives to put a dent in corporate business conventions and vanquish design mediocrity”.
The global design innovator has offices in London, New York, Singapore, Amsterdam, Sydney, and Shanghai.Bulletproof will utilise Screendragon’s agency management software to develop operational excellence as the company continues to grow and scale worldwide. If you’d like to see some of Bulletproof’s amazing work, then check out their portfolio here!
Wolff Olins is a renowned British advertising agency that has been in operation since 1965. Through offices in London, New York City and San Francisco it employs more than 150 people. Screendragon is delighted to welcome an agency of Wolff Olin’s calibre to our illustrious list of agency clients.
Welcome to our live G2 explainer blog for Screendragon. We have collected several G2 achievements and awards during the last couple of years. Therefore we think it’s time to summarise our recent success and keep tabs on our progress! Screendragon are a work management software vendor – but what does this really mean? The G2 categories and our relevant listings will help explain our solution!
Work management is the core Screendragon solution but this incorporates project management, resource management, agency management, and more. In addition to product performance, G2 also evaluate quality of services. This takes into account implementation, relationship management, usability, ease of business, and ease of admin. Read on to see what solution and service areas that Screendragon has performed highly in, how we achieved our rankings and awards, and what this means in simple terms. We begin our explainer blog with a summary of Screendragon’s performance in G2’s most recent release – Winter 2023!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 – Latest News (Winter 2023 Release)
2 – Introduction to G2
2a – Who are G2?
2b – What vendors feature on G2?
2c – How do G2 rank vendors?
3 – G2 Awards & Badges
3a – G2 High Performer Categories
3b – G2 Badges of Excellence
3c – G2 Top 50
4 – G2 Comparison Report
5 – How Screendragon outperform the competition
1 – Latest News (December 2022)
#1 for Enterprise – Resource Management Grid®
Screendragon is the new Highest Performer in the Resource Management Grid® for Enterprise! As the top-ranked provider of resource management software, Screendragon has consistently earned high marks for user satisfaction and performance compared with other resource management vendors.
If you’d like to read more about our resource management awards, then skip to section 3 – G2 Awards and Badges. In the meantime, here is a preview of the G2 Resource Management Grid®. Screendragon is now the Highest Performer and furthest to the right!
Most Likely to Recommend – Professional Services Automation
We’re delighted to reveal that Screendragon has collected the exclusive ‘Most Likely to Recommend’ award for the Professional Services Automation category. This recognition considers ease of use, meeting requirements, quality of support, and more. As you will see below, Screendragon is a software and service that is valued by clients. Our NPS score of 9.5 is the joint highest among relevant vendors!
Leader – Professional Services Automation (Momentum Grid®)
Screendragon’s performance in the agency market has earned another swathe of awards in the Professional Services Automation category. In addition to the ‘Most Likely to Recommend’ award described above, Screendragon has received recognition for Best Meets Requirements, Best Usability, Best Support, Easiest Admin, Easiest to Use, and Easiest Doing Business With.
Additionally, Screendragon has been named a Leader in the Professional Services Automation Momentum Grid® for a third time. Further down the blog, you can also read about Screendragon’s #1 ranking in the Enterprise category for Professional Services. We’re proud to say that we love agencies, and agencies love us!
Our resource management capabilities have powered Screendragon to a Leader position in the Marketing Resource Management category! With more than 15 years’ experience in the creative world, Screendragon stands out as the marketer’s solution of choice. Our resourcing and project management capabilities are fully integrated and designed with marketers in mind. Screendragon are now a leader in the G2 MRM category and pushing for the #1 spot!
Leader – Digital Asset Management (Momentum Grid®)
While not a native Digital Asset Management (DAM) vendor, Screendragon has powerful DAM functionality. Leveraging workflow automation, Screendragon clients can auto publish approved content to creative libraries. Furthermore, the meta data associated with the asset can also be auto populated into the digital library saving lots of time and effort! We may not be a traditional DAM vendor, but our recognition in G2’s Winter Release shows that we can compete with the best when it comes to asset management!
G2 is a peer review website that scores software products and vendors based on customer reviews. G2 collects reviews through its online community and vendors scores include data collected from online sources and social networks too. Before submitting a review, G2 users need to validate their role and relationship with the vendor in question. Additionally, G2 does not edit or filter reviews. Buyers trust G2 as customers i.e. users determine a vendor’s ranking.
2b. What vendors feature on G2?
Any vendor can feature on G2 but only the leading players in the industry feature in G2 grids, reports, and awards. Screendragon features in several highly competitive solution categories on G2. These include Work Management, Resource Management, Marketing Resource Management, Digital Asset Management, Online Proofing, and Professional Services Automation. Some of these categories have over 100 vendors competing so it’s important to stand out from the crowd!
Image: G2 vendor comparison table featuring Screendragon, Adobe Workfront, Wrike, Mavenlink, and Clarizen. I think it’s fair to say that Screendragon simplifies everything!
2c. How do G2 rank vendors?
G2 use a comprehensive list of scoring methodologies to evaluate vendors. They measure usability, satisfaction, relationship, implementation, and product performance. As a result. vendors that score highly in these categories can obtain high performer awards (see 2a) and badges of excellence (see 2b). The market ranking includes criterion such as employee headcount and social following.
Above: G2 Professional Services Automation Enterprise Grid® – Screendragon are the highest performer (furthest to the right)!
3. G2 Awards & Badges
3a. G2 High Performer Categories
Screendragon are proud to have earned High Performer awards in all of the following categories. Our website does not exaggerate when we proclaim to be an ‘end-to-end’ work management and creative operations solution!
Work Management (Momentum Grid® Leader)
G2’s work management evaluation focuses on productivity gains, collaboration, resource optimization, and remote work management. Screendragon’s automated workflows, AI assisted resourcing and forecasting, and advanced budget management hit the spot. These capabilities help companies increase productivity, reduce costs and improve speed-to-market! Our core functionality spans in-depth workflow customization with intelligent form structures and tasks. This is also supported by a robust reporting module and easy to use administrative tools.
With 116 vendors featuring on G2’s work management category this is a highly competitive market. However, Screendragon is flying up the ranks and we’re moving towards the leadership position. In light of our recent achievements, our Momentum Grid® leader award highlights the trajectory of our award winning software!
Screendragon’s resource management module is fully integrated with our marketing project management software. Consequently, we can provide leaders with a live helicopter view of what their team is working on and what the timelines are. Screendragon’s heatmap capacity view offers managers insight into opportunities for new work and constraints for upcoming projects.
Screendragon has been a leader in the marketing and creative space for more than 15 years. This means our resource management tool is perfectly suited for creative teams. Our performance in the marketing resource management is further proof that we are the go-to work management software for marketing teams!
Resource Management (Grid® Leader)
G2 describes resource management as ‘software that tracks, schedules, and optimizes human and material resources required for project management’. Accordingly, Screendragon’s resource management capabilities are wide-ranging and help teams from a variety of backgrounds. Screendragon’s most popular resourcing features are drag ‘n’ drop scheduling, real time resource calendar, AI assisted talent profile utilization, and pipeline and capacity planning.
Managing people and time is the foundation for work management and Screendragon has always stood out in this area. In addition to our leader position in the Momentum Grid®, Screendragon is the highest performer in the Resource Management Grid®! If you’d like to see why our customers rate us so highly in resource management then why not schedule a 30-minute tour of our software?
Professional Services Automation (#1 for Enterprise)
We’re proud to have received awards for our product offering in work management, marketing resource management, and resource management. However, it is our performance in the professional services automation category that is taking pride of place.
Among our professional services customers are a host of global agency networks such as McCann World Group, Landor & Fitch, Arc Worldwide and Interbrand as well as many fast growing small agencies . Agencies use Screendragon’s agency management solution to create new ways to increase collaboration, productivity and compliance. They can do this while removing silos, duplication of efforts and costs. Screendragon is ranked #1 among Professional Services Automation vendors in the enterprise space!
Digital Asset Management
While Screendragon may not have all the features of a traditional DAM vendor, it does possess many of the key qualities that most customers need. This includes the ability to store, share, tag and organize digital assets. Screendragon’s asset management is used by clients to create brand libraries, apply meta tags, build training knowledge bases, and share content with colleagues and partners.
3b. G2 Badges of Excellence
While G2 ‘High Performer’ awards focus on product performance, G2 badges are awarded for top class service and support. So, you have read why our product is so highly rated. It’s now time to see why our team is also world class!
Best Meets Requirements / Easiest to do Business With
Screendragon offers a vast array of capabilities (see our High Performer awards) which means we tick the boxes for most buyers. While Screendragon is a flexible product with powerful configuration capabilities, we never expect clients to work things out for themselves. Every client is assigned a solution expert whose primary role is to listen to your needs and ensure that Screendragon fits perfectly for your business.
Best Usability
Screendragon is a powerful work management tool with a lengthy list of features. Nonetheless, our brilliant development team keep user experience and customer success at the heart of everything we do. This means that Screendragon is a tool that can be learned and used by anyone (not just project managers!). It is simple in design while being sophisticated in performance.
Our latest award for ‘Best Usability’ is based on Screendragon’s performance in customer satisfaction, meeting requirements, and user adoption. Subsequently, this badge is proof that there’s a big difference between making a simple product versus making a product simple!
Best Support
Screendragon is a unique player in the work and creative management segment as most of our staff are customer service focused. We have a dedicated team of project managers, business consultants, and configuration specialists. Our project managers work with clients on a regular basis to maximize the value of Screendragon and optimize its performance. If you ever encounter a roadblock within the system (and we’d like to think you won’t!) you will not have to wait in line or go through red tape to get hands on support. We are always there when you need us.
Best Relationship
At Screendragon, we put immense value on customer support (see our award above!). When clients choose to work with Screendragon it is the beginning of a prosperous relationship for both parties. This contrasts to the seductive sell and swerve philosophy of many companies. Our greatest asset is our people and this resonates strongly in client feedback. We go to the nth degree to make sure our solution works brilliantly for your company. As a result, our clients tend to put great trust and value in our service.
Easiest Setup
Adoption rates are greatly affected by onboarding time and user experience. As outlined in our awards for ‘Best Support’ and ‘Easiest to do Business With’ we guarantee a smooth transition for new clients. Our implementation competencies are not exclusive to our highly acclaimed solutions experts though. Screendragon’s product is built to be fit for purpose which means adoption time is quick and implementation is pain-free. Our user-friendly UI and agile software are very intuitive, so it never takes long to start seeing the benefits of the system!
Easiest Admin
Screendragon has been built from the ground up to be configurable and cater for different ways of working that exist. Practically every aspect of the platform can be managed using web-based admin tools. This flexibility and intuitiveness will excite project managers and admins as much as CMOs and creatives!
Users Love Us & Most Likely To Recommend
Based on everything we said above, it might become clear why more and more companies are choosing Screendragon to manage their work and creative operations. Our passion for design, client first approach, easy implementation, and cutting-edge technology are transforming operations at Fortune 500 companies and Global Agencies and our clients love us for it!
4. G2 Vendor Comparison Report
We have effused Screendragon’s capabilities in our awards and badges summary above – but how do we stack up against the competition? Our G2 comparison report compares the top players in the industry across key product and service indicators. You can download it for free below!
5. See why Screendragon outperform the competition
We hope you’ve seen enough to justify learning more about Screendragon. If you want to see why our product scores so highly on G2 and other review websites then why not see the real thing in action? You can schedule a short product introduction with one of our solution experts below. Feel free to tell us what you’d like to see or what you need to know and we’ll show you why Screendragon is a perfect fit!
We’re delighted to reveal that Screendragon are sponsoring The Festival of Creative Operations! The virtual event is hosted by creative industry experts Henry Stewart Events. Screendragon is delighted to partner with Henry Stewart Events for a fifth year and look forward to meeting the crème de la crème of the creative world!
If you’re attending the event then then make sure to join the creative panel discussion ‘Challenges, Shifts and Trends’. Screendragon’s Fergus Ashe will join Robin McLoughlin and guests to assess the latest trends in creative operations. Haven’t yet registered? There are still tickets available for the virtual event on 27th September by following this link. Registrations for brands and agencies are free so come join us!
We are delighted to announce Screendragon will sponsor the Association of National Advertisers Inhouse Agency Conference again this year. The conference is a hybrid event taking place on the 15/16/17 March and will assemble creative and inhouse leaders of the biggest brands in the business! The ANA is the U.S. advertising industry’s oldest and largest trade association and we’re proud to partner with the ANA again in 2022.
Have you ever felt that your job is more about managing the beast rather than accomplishing the outcome? Do you spend more energy on process and administration than making an actual difference? Talent is the lifeblood of any organisation – but too often companies focus on performance management and process compliance over unlocking potential and achieving outcomes.
This is why we created a new podcast series to untangle the web that many teams find themselves in and unleash the talent within the room. This is the Unstuck podcast series with Clive Sirkin and guests!
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