Commercial content has become increasingly fragmented.
A single campaign might need broadcast video, photography, social cutdowns, digital ads, ecommerce imagery, retail assets and countless variations of each.
and while the content might be fragmented, the production behind it doesn't always have to be.
Bringing multiple content formats together under one production partner can create opportunities to share resources, simplify communication, and think about the entire content need from the beginning.
Is It More Efficient to Use One Production Company for Multiple Content Formats?
Using one production company for multiple content formats can be more efficient when those formats can share resources, workflows and knowledge.
Think about everything that goes into getting a commercial production off the ground.
Products need to be sourced and shipped.
Sets might need to be designed and built.
Talent may need to be cast.
Creative needs to be approved.
Brand standards need to be understood.
When every deliverable becomes an entirely separate production with a different vendor, some of that process may have to happen again and again.
An integrated production model creates opportunities to connect those workflows instead. Photography and video might happen within the same production. CGI could supplement what was captured practically. Post-production teams can understand from the beginning how the larger library of assets needs to work together.
The right combination depends on the project.
Should Brands Consolidate Photography, Video, CGI and Post-Production?
Consolidating photography, video, CGI and post-production can make sense when bringing those capabilities together creates a more connected and efficient workflow.
But consolidation for the sake of having fewer vendors isn't necessarily the goal.
The real question is: what's the smartest way to create the work?
For Mike O'Brien, Director of Business Development at TRG, answering that starts with understanding the client's goals, budget, timeline, previous work and willingness to explore different approaches.
"We ask a variety of questions," Mike says. "All the solutions under our roof could be applicable, so it's our job to find the best ones to recommend at that time."
Having CGI available doesn't mean CGI is always the answer. The same goes for virtual production, photography, video or any other capability. Those tools become valuable when they solve a specific production problem.
One Partner Can Still Mean Multiple Solutions
Integrated production doesn't mean one standardized workflow; it's one connected production ecosystem capable of supporting many different workflows.
A brand launching a major campaign may need something completely different from a brand updating hundreds of e-commerce assets.
Mike sees that range regularly, from large brand campaigns to PDP content and legacy photography refreshes.
The advantage of having multiple capabilities available isn't that every client uses all of them, but that the production team has more options when figuring out the best way to accomplish the work.
Fewer Hand-Offs Can Mean More Context
There's also a less visible benefit to working across one production ecosystem: accumulated knowledge.
The more a production partner understands a brand, its products, its standards, and how those products need to appear, the less time has to be spent rebuilding that understanding from scratch. That becomes especially valuable when a project evolves. A photography project might suddenly need motion. A campaign might expand to require additional e-commerce assets. A product that's difficult to capture practically might benefit from CGI.
When those capabilities already exist in the production environment, the conversation can shift from finding another vendor to identifying the best solution.
More Ways to Produce, Without Making Production More Complicated
The goal of integrated production isn't simply to consolidate as much work as possible, but to connect the pieces that make sense to connect.
When photography, video, CGI, virtual production, post, and other capabilities can share resources and knowledge, brands have more flexibility to determine how each asset should be made without starting the production process over every time.
One partner doesn't have to mean one way of working.
Ideally, it means more ways to get the work done.
