Creatives, Why Don’t You Think I’m Sexy?

So, there’s a lot of sexy tech out there right now; there’s AR, AI, VR and mixtures of the three - all of which are making our inner nerds’ wildest sci-fi dreams into reality. But there’s a lot to be said for the tech that’s not in the most alluring get up. Sometimes taking time to discover something beautiful underneath the surface is the difference between short-lived lust and long-term love…

Sadly, I’m not talking about the future of singles on Tinder but about ad delivery. Sure, it’s not the sexiest topic in the ad industry, but don’t underestimate its impact on your efficiency, output, and general emotional well-being.

Delivery is always considered to be the end of the creative process but it isn’t necessarily where creativity must stop. By thinking creatively about what users really need, and using the latest technology to build new tools, it’s possible to remove friction from the process, and improve workflows.

Until recently, it was just accepted that delivery interfaces were the final obstacle in the race to get an ad on air, on time and at the best quality. It was a disjointed workflow consisting of numerous programmes, bodies and spinning plates. The last-minute flurry to export the spot was followed by the inevitable discovery that, in the haste to send, there’s an error in the file. The only option was to wait for the file to upload again and then plead to jump the queue, and pray that this time it would pass.

You pretty much had to be versed in the dark arts to successfully get a file from timeline to transition first time round.

While the adrenaline rush did have a certain thrill, the old system is obviously deeply flawed. I’ve seen innumerable relationships sour due to delivery disasters. By the time ads are due to be delivered, the hard work should be done and the team should be relaxing. Instead, the delivery can be the most stressful part of the entire process. Creatives, who should be focusing on the next big idea are instead doing battle with the delivery technology and fuelling their ever-waning work-life balance.

At Honeycomb, we believe that ad delivery is a critical (but often-overlooked) part of the creative process. It’s ripe for innovation. Sure, it’s not flashy, but a decent ad delivery tool will save creative teams, post houses and broadcasters valuable time (and headspace) which they can spend elsewhere.

If you want creative inspiration, you need to give yourself time to achieve it. Improving your workflow is the best way to do that because budgets sure as hell aren’t getting any bigger.

With today’s technology we can build systems which make current processes easier, and will be ready to handle the challenges of tomorrow. With the advent of programmatic advertising, deliveries are going to get far more complex and numerous, so delivery tech, as well as the industry at large, has to be ready. The current antiquated system just isn’t ready for the targeted nature of programmatic - and neither is your budget.

So, we believe that modern, reliable tech should be implemented wherever possible to improve speed and quality. It’s the Dyson hand dryer which saves you a minute every time you spend a penny, or the Oyster card which makes every bus ride that little bit faster. The small stuff adds up - and makes a big, important difference.                                     

Did you know it’s perfectly possible to QC check and send numerous HD ads in seconds, rather than hours, for example? For the person responsible for handling your deliveries, that could save days every month.

At Honeycomb, we know what a difference this makes. We’ve built a superfast, reliable ingestion and QC system which delivers results almost instantaneously, identifying any issues quickly and making it easy to get them resolved. Of course, we also do manual QC if our clients want it, but three years down the line, and with thousands of HD masters in the system, we’re confident that if your file passes our QC, broadcasters will play it.

What’s more, the system as a whole is built with enterprise software, so when new technology comes out - UHD for example - we’re ready for it.

As for transcoding, before you finish this sentence 180 files could have been transcoded and be on their way to the broadcaster. Long gone are the days of 10MB leased lines; today a major European broadcaster can receive 100+ HD files in 15 minutes.

It may not be as sexy as AR Super Mario in Central Park or channelling Space Odyssey with AI, but it’s certainly something that can free up the time and money you need to be more Don Draper. In advertising, what’s not sexy about that proposition?

Craig Russill-Roy is Head of Broadcast Technology at Honeycomb TV

Learn more about future tech at Honeycomb’s first ever HiveLive event on 18th July. Craig will be speaking about everything UHD with DPP’s Andy Wilson. More info and free tickets here.