“We see assets produced in buckets and produced in content cemeteries,” says Steffen Gentis, MCA’s global production manager, about the key issues facing marketers today, about the waste of ramping content.
Speaking on the “fast and vast” panels at LBB in Cannes and Friends Beach, Steffen described a brand that produces countless overlapping assets that are often unused. “There are incredible replicas throughout the market,” he said.
ITG CEO Andrew Swinand supported the observation with a surprising person. Andrew, in collaboration with leading global beer brands, found “3,326 images of the same bottle” in the Digital Asset Management System (DAM). “80% of the dam’s content is not used and 60% produced by in-house agents don’t see the light of day as people order it like an all-you-can-eat buffet,” he said. Andrew emphasized that a significant amount of waste is generated due to the cut content process.
Participated by Alissa Hansen, North American CEO of Omnicom Production, the panel worked on scaling content production without sacrificing creativity or brand impact. Their conversations identified practical solutions to inefficiency, misconceptions about AI, and the key role of integrated media planning.
Steffen warned against creating content simply “for content” and flooded the channel with unused assets. He recommended centralising production monitoring to avoid unnecessary replication. Andrew said effective asset management and metadata tagging to reuse existing content will reduce unnecessary production.
Alyssa pointed to a fundamental cutting in the planning. Production teams rarely start with a clear media strategy. “How often does the production team start with a media brief?” she asked the audience. “When you create content that follows a clear media plan, your clients are avoiding unnecessary waste and creating assets they pay.”
Addressing the role of AI, Andrew has revealed its position in content production. “You hear people talk about AI like it’s a strategy, but it’s a tool,” he said. “AI is not a big idea because it helps organize and accelerate your behind-the-scenes work.”
Contrary to the general narrative of generative AI that completely replaces creative work, he argued that its true value lies in automating repetitive tasks such as asset tagging and adapting, and in which creative teams focus on impactful ideas.
Steffen expanded and referenced a newly published white paper on the role of AI in production. After extensive industry talks, he highlighted insights from leaders who emphasized that AI’s value lies in media efficiency rather than merely cost savings. “If we can make existing content work better, we can increase the value of our media by 25-45%,” Steffen explained that better-performing content far outweighs simple cost savings.
As Andrew said, “If you have a really shitty idea, remaking it 10,000 times won’t make it too shitty.” AI should amplify great ideas rather than make up for weak creatives.
To resolve the disconnect between production and media, Alyssa proposed a production plan that was directly linked to the media strategy. She emphasized that she knew the exact channel, format, and audience targets before creating content, preventing unused assets.
“If you create without understanding the placement of media, you risk creating homeless assets,” she warned. She urged the brand to advocate for better collaboration between the media, production and creative teams to ensure efficient and targeted content production.
Andrew agreed, observing that many organizations remained too silent. “Most clients don’t have a unified workflow between content and media,” he noted. The panelists agreed that the next wave of innovation should integrate workflow orchestration, combining clear processes and robust platforms to seamlessly align content creation with distribution strategies.
This panel concluded by focusing on the importance and decisive action of trust in navigating complex content landscapes and technological advancements. Rather than experimenting widely with a large number of unproven vendors, Steffen stated the value of a strong and reliable partnership. “Take the partner you’ve trusted for years and work with them,” he advised, advocating for intensive efforts rather than fragmented experiments.
Andrew reflected this, advocating bolder and transformative movements rather than gradual change. “It’s a big leap from 1,000 small experiments with untrusted partners. Centralisation and intensive bets with trusted partners will give you better results,” he said.
Alyssa concluded her advice by urging the brand not to be paralyzed by the fear of transformation. “Companies make change feel impossible,” she noted, urging instead a proactive, learning-by-learning approach. “Find early opportunities, take off the training wheels and jump in,” she encouraged, highlighting her actions towards the long-term plan.
Ultimately, tackling content waste and leveraging AI effectively requires clear strategies, reliable partnerships, and bold decisions rooted in the actual integration of media and production. This is a formula that ensures that creativity and efficiency is successful.
Click here for the MCA full production white paper.
