By Geoff Clarke, Chief Operating Officer, IPG Mediabrands Australia
Most client leaders have witnessed too many agency pitches promising “transformational tech” than they care to remember, each one citing a new platform, dashboard or automation tool. And yet, when it comes to how businesses run, far too many operations teams are still clinging to an outdated operational playbook.
In media and marketing, where we live and breathe innovation on behalf of our clients, it’s ironic that our own operational systems are often outdated, fragmented, and ill-equipped for the pace of change now required.
As Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella put it: “Every company is now a software company. You need to think and operate like a digital company. It’s no longer just about procuring one solution and deploying one. It’s not about one simple software solution. It’s really you yourself thinking of your own future as a digital company.”
In other words, if you’re not operating like a tech-led business, even if your product is creativity or media strategy, you’ll fall behind, and quickly.
The shift we’re seeing on a weekly basis is much bigger than automation or efficiency gains, it’s about redefining the role of operations entirely. No longer a cost centre focused on compliance and delivery, operations must now become a driver of value: influencing innovation, improving client outcomes, and setting the pace for business transformation.
That’s especially urgent in the media and marketing sector. Agencies were built on strong craft skills such as media buying, strategy, creative, production, but all too often, the way those crafts are supported operationally hasn’t evolved fast enough. Relying on siloed tech stacks that don’t talk to each other, leading to manual workarounds and duplicated effort bolting new tools onto legacy systems is not transformation, a more concerted approach is required. Meanwhile, client expectations are rising, and in-house teams are becoming more sophisticated.
If agencies want to stay relevant and competitive, the operations function needs a redesign from the ground-up that reflects the realities of today’s marketing ecosystem, not the one of yester-year.
Experience has shown that building a fit-for-purpose operations model means bringing together four core pillars that reflect how media and marketing really work today.
First, you need business solutions that define standardised processes and ways of working across teams, markets and functions. This is about making quality consistent, whether you’re rolling out a global retail media strategy or optimising programmatic campaigns locally. Efficiency is a value-add.
Second, client operations must step up to actively manage performance, scope and reporting across portfolios. If you want to improve your output and reduce time-to-market, you need specialists who understand how to translate operational rigour into better client outcomes.
Third, and arguably most crucial, is technology and engineering. Whether it’s building bespoke planning tools or automating reconciliation via RPA and AI, the ability to architect tech that fits your business – rather than retrofitting the business to whatever tech is available – will be a key differentiator.
And finally, great project management is essential. Not just to keep internal teams on track, but to ensure major implementations land and deliver value.
The risk of not moving forward is very real as it is likely your competitors are already reaping the benefits: faster campaign cycles, stronger data visibility, more scalable work. And let’s not forget our teams, today’s top performers want to work in environments where tech removes friction and empowers creativity, not where people are still spending hours working on spreadsheets and logging hours manually.
And yet, change can be hard. For some, the very idea of replacing manual workflows will provoke resistance and fear. I’ve seen entire teams reluctant to give up their legacy tools, even when the new ones are proven better, because of what I call “operations Stockholm syndrome.”
There’s no silver bullet. Transformation requires a mindset shift: from generalists to specialists, from gutfeel to data-led decisions, from waterfall processes to agile ways of working. It means investing upfront in tech, training and cultural change. Yes, it can feel like a cost, but only until agency’s realise the upside: more competitive IP, smarter ways of working, better client retention, and real top-line growth, not to mention happier teams.
By embracing these changes Operations will move from backstage to centre stage, becoming a vital strategic partner driving future business growth.
The media and marketing industry loves talking about disruption. But we rarely apply that lens to our own operations and I suggest this must change.
Because the real revolution won’t be in the next big pitch or platform, it will be in how we rebuild the engine room of our businesses…the operations department.
Which leaves the question we all need to ask is your operations function ready to lead, or will it be left behind?