In this episode, Pica9 founder and podcast host Kevin Groome, delves into the transformative potential of streamlined print-on-demand systems. He explores the evolution of print-on-demand from its inception in the 1990s to its current sophisticated state.

In this episode of The Creative Operations Podcast 2.0, host Kevin Groome sits down with Chris Foust, Vice President of Marketing and Strategy at Northpoint Recovery. Chris shares the story of Northpoint's rapid growth since its founding in 2015, expanding to over a dozen locations across various states. They delve into the unique marketing challenges posed by this growth, discussing the need to tailor strategies to different demographics and geographic areas. Chris explains how they've structured their marketing team like an agency, emphasizing nimbleness and close communication to address the diverse needs of each location. They touch on topics such as the importance of trust, managing creative requests, utilizing platforms like Monday for project management, and evolving SEO and PPC strategies. The conversation highlights the balance between centralization and local empowerment, offering valuable insights into managing a rapidly growing organization's creative operations effectively.

In this episode of "The Creative Operations Podcast 2.0", host Kevin Groome and guest Shawn Lemon tackle the challenges of digital organization, focusing on efficiently managing the constant stream of content from various sources. The discussion covers practical tips for handling content post-photo shoots, emphasizing the importance of treating external platforms as delivery points and promptly integrating content into a well-structured file system. Shawn delves into file naming conventions, advocating for a systematic approach that includes dates, categories, and descriptions. The conversation also addresses potential display challenges, offering insights on optimizing file names for readability and searchability. Shawn's expertise provides actionable advice for streamlining digital workflows, making this episode a valuable resource for creative teams navigating the complexities of content management.

In this episode of "The Creative Operations Podcast 2.0", host Kevin Groome engages in a captivating conversation with Laurie Schiada, the Associate Vice President of Brand Management and Content Development at Humana. Laurie shares her fascinating career journey from renowned design institutions to her pivotal roles at Disney, Boeing, and finally, at Humana. As the leader of one of the largest in-house creative teams in the corporate world, Laurie delves into the unique challenges and opportunities presented by the healthcare vertical, emphasizing the delicate balance between emotional connection and regulatory constraints. The episode explores the agile methodologies implemented within Humana's in-house agency, the intricacies of collaborative relationships with external agencies, and the pivotal role of tools like Figma in streamlining design and development processes. Laurie's insights provide a valuable glimpse into the dynamic landscape of creative operations within a purpose-driven organization.

In this episode of The Creative Operations Podcast 2.0, host Kevin Groome invites Shawn Lemon, founder of The Digital Organizer, to explore the critical aspects of efficient digital asset management. Together, they emphasize the importance of establishing a solid foundation by implementing archiving strategies and consistent file naming conventions. Shawn shares insights on adapting these conventions for various user communities and the advantages of using Google Workspace for comprehensive email, file storage, and collaboration. Furthermore, they discuss the challenges of cleaning up disorganized digital environments, emphasizing the significance of understanding current workflows and involving a knowledgeable point person in the process. The episode culminates with the mantra of "Keep, Delete, Archive, and Share," offering practical guidance for optimizing creative operations and maintaining a streamlined workflow.

In this new episode of “The Creative Operations Podcast 2.0”, host Kevin Groome is joined by Adam Bartimmo, the Technology Senior Director at Wray Ward. They explore the realm of creative operations and technology integration within the agency world. Adam's journey from small agencies to industry giants informs his insights into the importance of flexibility and adaptability. Wray Ward's specialization in serving the home and building industry adds depth to the discussion, highlighting the unique challenges presented by multi-location brands. Adam elaborates on Wray Ward's tech stack strategy, emphasizing the need for tools that enhance existing processes rather than imposing rigid structures. The episode also underscores the pivotal role of integration, automation, change management, and user adoption in achieving operational efficiency. Patience and humility emerge as essential qualities in driving successful technology implementation and transition.

In this episode of The Creative Operations Podcast 2.0, host Kevin Groome speaks with Yari Ising, founder and head of The Ising Agency, about the human factor in creative operations. They discuss the evolving nature of creative operations, the challenges of one-off design requests, and the importance of communication and documentation. Yari emphasizes the need for strategic thinking and long-term planning in creative operations, as well as the role of technology in enhancing efficiency. She also highlights the importance of taking care of the team and maintaining a human-centered approach.

In this episode of the Creative Operations Podcast, host Kevin Groome interviews Melanie Draheim, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Network Health. They discuss Melanie's career journey, the growth of her team, and the challenges of balancing creative strategy with operational demands. Melanie shares insights into the importance of streamlined processes, strategic technology adoption, and fostering innovation within the team. The discussion also touches on the dynamics of handling urgent requests and finding the right balance between agility and discipline.

In this episode, Kevin Groome provides a detailed breakdown of the cost of one-off design requests and emphasizes the importance of considering the visible costs of these requests. He highlights the impact of these requests on employee burnout and the need to prioritize strategic and creative tasks. He also discusses the benefits of streamlining the design request process and encourages clear communication and expectations between the local marketer making requests and the creative operations team. Kevin notes the importance of keeping an eye on employee churn that might be caused by high billable hours availability and a high efficiency rate devoted to one-off design requests. Finally, he recommends understanding an organization's specific needs when implementing a self-service approach to design requests to reduce costs and improve efficiency. To calculate the impact of what one-off design requests are costing your team: https://airtable.com/shrrRK3WwUxDbJ0s6 Highlight Quotes KEVIN: Introduction of calculator for one-off design requests "I called it the shocking cost of one off design request. Because for me, almost always the notion that something that only takes a couple of minutes actually consumes an hour or more of professional time is always." KEVIN: Taking a second round of design revision "Almost always in the first round, our customers discover something that they didn't think about when they first submitted the task. Something emerges. I always allow a little bit of time for that and I'm going to allow ten minutes there." Connect with Kevin and find out more about his work: Kevin Groome | Pica9 | Pica9.com Manage and scale your distributed brand with Pica9, the brand-to-local marketing platform that helps by providing consistent branding and localized experiences across every location. BOOK A DEMO NOW!

Join us for a special one-year anniversary episode of The Creative Operations 2.0, as we look back on a year of incredible insights into the world of Creative Operations. In this episode, we'll be recapping some of our memorable moments and precious bits of wisdom from our past episodes. Take a walk down memory lane with us and refresh yourself with the amazing insights we've shared over the past year. Don't miss out on this highlight reel recap, available only here on The Creative Operations 2.0.

UTILIZING TOOLS AND RESOURCES THAT ARE BUILT FOR CREATIVITY Today, we feature Russ Perry, the Founder & CEO of Design Pickle. In the early days, there was a big divide between creatives and suits. Now, we have account managers that help highlight and translate the business into something that the creatives can run with. Kevin and Russ dive deep into creating consistent and scalable creative output and how to tackle creative operations issues along the way.

METRICS DEFINE YOUR SUCCESS Today, Kevin Groome discusses digital asset management (DAM) and the metrics for its success. The number 1 metric is user adoption, and once you have achieved that, the next metric is to look at pageviews and transactions within the system. Kevin also gives tips on user auditing and simple tricks to can rope users that have not used DAM in a given time span back into the system.

BRINGING TOGETHER HUNDREDS OF SUCCESSFUL INSURANCE AGENCIES ALL UNDER ONE UMBRELLA Today, we feature Christina Strong-Regan, the Director of Marketing at AssuredPartners of Michigan. As the 11th largest broker of U.S. business, once agencies become part of the AssuredPartners network, they are provided communications and resources to activate the brand within local markets successfully. Christina emphasizes that sales and marketing must share insights and not work in silos and have a project management system that utilizes automation.

FIND THE RIGHT FOLKS FROM THE BEGINNING Today, we feature Matt Koyak, the Emmy Nominated Director of Marketing at Regional One Health. He delves into his experience in creative operations and branding, beginning his career as a graphic designer and later discovering his love for advertising. Matt shares the success brought about by effective rebranding in changing a company's image towards what they actually envision and working directly with providers in creating content that resonates with local audiences. He also shares how he and his team use the innovations in AI like ChatGPT to streamline their processes.

FIND THE RIGHT FOLKS FROM THE BEGINNING Today, we feature Troy Sacco, the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Five Star Parks and Attractions. He talks about how the complexities of growth can be both challenging and rewarding on the creative operations side of a brand. Troy also shares about mentoring being an undervalued aspect in the creative operations space and how we can begin to improve on that.

GETTING FRANCHISEES TO RAISE THEIR HANDS Today, we feature Heather Reid, the CEO and Founder of Franchise Marketing Gurus. She shares the unique relationship between franchisors and franchisees and understanding the whole dynamic of this connection. Heather talks about setting proper expectations in order to tackle the unique marketing challenges effectively in the franchising space, acknowledging franchisee learning curves.

CORE PRINCIPLES SET UP IN-HOUSE AGENCIES FOR SUCCESS Today, we feature Amy Spears, the Senior Vice President of Brand & Creative and Head of Tonic at Highmark Health. She shares how she and her team have built an in-house agency over the course of just 4 years and how having clear nonnegotiables based on values has allowed her team to propel forward. She talks about how her team creates brand-focused customer experiences and a blended approach to working with external agencies as extensions of the team.

ADAPT TO CHANGING NEEDS WITH CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION Today, we feature Casey Hurbis, the Chief Marketing Officer for Rocket Central. In just 6 years, Casey went from servicing a single brand to building out a robust operations team to support 14 individual brands. From award-winning Super Bowl commercials to t-shirts, Casey and his team can do it all. Casey talks about the many different aspects now under the Rocket Central branch and how they were able to create a kind of "brand concentration" that succeeds. He shares insights on the importance of multicultural teams and audiences and the impact of younger generations on businesses today.

USER EXPERIENCE MAKES OR BREAKS ADOPTION RATES Today, Kevin Groome talks all about user management on the CampaignDrive platform. He dives into 3 main topics: how to welcome users into the system and create accounts for them, fine-tuning the experience, and assessing user activity. He gives suggestions on allowing users to define the experience they want, which provides a better user experience while lessening the workload for you. Kevin then digs into being upfront with permissions and having a minimum annual review of user activity to see best practices and bad habits.