Marketers found to be struggling in localising creative strategies

Personalisation is all the rage for marketers and consumers nowadays. The proliferation of digital media today makes it even more important for marketers to personalise and localise their content so as to remain relevant and engaging among their target audience.In a recent study by CMO Council and HH Global, marketers and agencies find it increasingly tough to keep up with the growing demands to localise and adapt their creative strategies.The study found more than two-thirds of the 150 senior marketing executives polled rated their companies and agencies "below satisfactory" in their capacity to translate and adapt brand marketing content. This was across the markets and channels they serve.Meanwhile, only 32% of respondents say their companies are either "advanced" or "doing well" in adapting brand content to different geographical locations and partners, while another 34% stated they are "at least improving". Also, 49% of respondents spend less than 5% of their marketing budget for creative adaptation and cross-cultural localisation.The failure to address rapid adaptation is further challenged by increasing pressure by a range of factors, led by requirements for geographic localisation, proliferation of new digital formats, the need for more visually engaging content and operational cost pressures.Less than half responded that they are able to publish localised content across both physical and digital channels within weeks of a campaign launch. This indicates that the speed of execution is a major challenge for respondents.Top five challenges of marketersThe survey also lists the top five challenges of marketers. This includes shortening turnaround times; ensuring quality and uniformity with brand guidelines; end-to-end workflow management; delivering creatives on time; and measuring the creative appeal and impact of content.Survey results also showed that many organisations are failing to take important steps to improve their ability to adapt and modify branded content, with only 18% completing a formal assessment of their creative delivery process. Just one-fifth of those surveyed stated they are satisfied with this aspect.Results also indicated that many companies are using basic project management and collaboration tools to manage those processes. Only 20% of respondents used online approval and proofing systems to accelerate modifications.“At a time when the customer has higher expectations than ever for the relevance and personalisation of content and brand interaction, marketing organisations will need to step up their game when it comes to brand content adaptation to address geographic, cultural, customer and other differences,” Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council, said.“Past research has shown that adaptation of marketing strategy and content can be major enabler of sales and brand success. Yet most companies have a long way to go to get it right," he added.Titled "Adaptability in Branded Content Delivery", the report surveys respondents which come from industries which demand an omni-channel presence. This includes retail, travel, hospitality, technology and consumer goods.