Learn how NetSuite gives Advertising, Media
and Publishing companies a competitive edge.
The UK advertising sector continues to grow year on year, with steady demand for digital media, online video, social media, and TV driving much of that momentum. The UK ad market is expected to post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5% between now and 2027, at which point its total market value will be £27.7 billion.
Media and publishing are also posting steady growth as organisations explore new digital opportunities and also stick with more traditional content channels. According to the Publishers Association, the industry posted record growth when it reached £6.9 billion in total sales for 2022—up 4% over the prior year. Fun fact: UK consumers bought 669 million physical books in 2022, which was the highest level ever recorded.
When they replace their aging, siloed software systems and manual systems with a cloud ERP supported by an experienced implementation partner, companies can operate more profitably and competitively in the expanding UK advertising, media, and publishing sector.
A rising tide that's lifting all boats
The advertising, media and publishing (“AMP”) agencies that create, distribute, and sell these media and publishing products/services have been growing along with the industry that they’re operating in. Whether they’re developing advertising campaigns, distributing media products, or informing the public about current events, AMP organisations need robust, unified technology tools to help them stay competitive in this fast-paced, ever-changing business environment.
Unfortunately, many AMP agencies rely on outdated business systems; Sage or QuickBooks for accounting; myriad other third-party applications; and then Excel spreadsheets for sharing data across departments. This disjointed technology approach creates massive complexities for any company, but it can be particularly challenging for agencies that have an international presence.
Too many siloed, outdated business systems also create problems like inefficient workflows, data errors, missed deadlines, security risks, and compliance issues. They can also be expensive to run and maintain—both in terms of money and IT resources. These and other technology-related challenges inhibit agency growth and often lead to missed opportunities to increase market share, attract new customers, and add new lines of business.
Project-based AMP agencies may face even steeper challenges as they attempt to run their operations using aging systems, disconnected applications, and spreadsheets. To manage their associates’ work hours, for example, they generally use a timesheet management application or a production system that is not integrated with their finance or billing system. Getting information out of one application and into the other requires much manual effort and takes a lot of time—all for a process that has to be orchestrated at a regular frequency.
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“This one process winds up being extremely resource-intensive,”…. “Then, the finance team has to work to fill in the data gaps in order to get a full picture of the organisation’s financial performance. This can be time consuming and the information can be out of date by the time it is made available the decision makers”
Tony Fidler, CEO & Founder — SANSA Solutions
Similar technological roadblocks exist in the typical AMP’s production systems, which are used to place advertising, manage events, publish content, and handle myriad other projects. The carrying costs and expenses associated with each of these events then have to be transferred into QuickBooks or Sage, neither of which is directly integrated with the production systems.
When operational and financial tasks are handled by completely separate systems, the latter often becomes an afterthought. This can negatively impact cash flow in an industry where companies working on £50 million campaigns may be paid 50% upfront and then in 25% increments as the project is completed.
Along the way, those companies are bringing in freelance resources, outsourcing tasks to third parties, and paying out other campaign-related overhead costs (i.e., locations, filming, editing, etc.). “Many smaller creative agencies rely on scaling up resources when they win a large tender. Keeping abreast of overheads such as set hire, talent, and travel costs is critical to delivering projects on time and within budget. Creative costs can spiral as the demands from the client flex so it’s essential the account team have visibility of this in real-time to work out what is feasible” says Paul F – Creative Director at a niche agency in London.
Companies that have clear visibility into what they’re owed, when they’ll be paid, and how much they owe stand the best chance of running a profitable, sustainable business. For those that view finance and reporting as afterthoughts, on the other hand, the path to success is often paved with needless obstacles and roadblocks.
“…Creative costs can spiral as the demands from the client flex so it’s essential the account team have visibility of this in real-time to work out what is feasible”
Paul F, Creative Director — London Agency
Merging, acquiring and investing
The active mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market is another driver of digital transformation for AMP agencies, many of which are either acquiring other entities, putting themselves up for sale, or taking on new outside investors. In fact, 2022 was a record year for M&A transactions in the UK media and marketing services sector, with more than 450 deals closing during that 12-month period—a 19% increase over 2021.
“The post-pandemic resurgence in M&A, which we first started to see in the second half of 2021, has continued apace throughout 2022, and no amount of commentary regarding macro or microeconomic difficulties has derailed it,” Moore Kingston Smith states. Companies that are being acquired or taking on investment need robust technology systems that provide transparency into their operations and finances. Without this transparency, investors and buyers can’t accurately assess the company’s value and make informed investment decisions.
In other words, spreadsheets and basic accounting systems won’t cut it. What AMP agencies need is a unified, cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that not only has robust native functionalities but can also easily “hook into” their existing, third-party applications. Preferably, those systems will be in place before the AMP agency puts itself up for sale or starts the process of taking on a new, outside investor.
The acquiring companies also need technology support, namely because they wind up with multiple different entities running on their own technology systems. “We have seen g a lot of acquisition and consolidation activity in the AMP sector in London, in particular,” said Fidler. “Many times, AMP agencies end up ‘inheriting’ many different systems from companies that they acquired. With no real impetus to migrate those companies over to new systems, the company will buy an agency and let it keep running on QuickBooks. The same company will buy another agency that’s running on Sage and repeat the process.
“The post-pandemic resurgence in M&A, which we first started to see in the second half of 2021, has continued apace throughout 2022, and no amount of commentary regarding macro or microeconomic difficulties has derailed it”
Moore Kingston Smith
Over time, the parent company winds up with an operation that—without enough spreadsheet shuffling—never really knows how it’s performing on a global basis.
“This is where NetSuite and SANSA come in,” said Fidler. “By pairing a unified, cloud ERP with an implementation partner that truly understands and has experience working with the AMP industry, growing agencies can get their end-to-end operations onto a single ERP quickly.”
Once in place, NetSuite gives AMP agencies real-time views into their operations and performance; a centralised financial and accounting management tool; and streamlined workflows that help all team members operate more efficiently. Agencies can maintain their creative cultures in any economic environment and confidently know that NetSuite has them covered.
“This is where NetSuite and SANSA come in,”…. “By pairing a unified, cloud ERP with an implementation partner that truly understands and has experience working with the AMP industry, growing agencies can get their end-to-end operations onto a single ERP quickly.”
Tony Fidler, CEO & Founder — SANSA Solutions
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Getting AMP companies up and running on Netsuite quickly
Having worked with many AMP agencies that wanted to implement and optimise NetSuite, SANSA takes a “handholding” approach that services-based businesses really appreciate. SANSA also uses the SuiteSuccess methodology, which incorporates the industry-leading best practices of many past AMP implementations to carve out a fast and predictable path to ERP implementation.
From there, additional functionalities and integrations are added on an as-needed basis, centered on the specific company’s needs.
“We get companies live on NetSuite as quickly as possible, and then we help them get the very most out of their ERP investment,” said Fidler. For example, SANSA can deliver the integrations needed to “connect” any existing applications into the new ERP. It also helps AMP organisations optimise their NetSuite investments over time by adding new functionalities, introducing them to new capabilities and otherwise ensuring that its customers get the most out of the cloud-based ERP.
“SANSA goes well beyond the ‘functional’ steps of pressing buttons, turning the system on, and making sure that it works,” Fidler explained. “We also factor in the culture side of the implementation, knowing that someone’s job is going to change dramatically as a result of this new software system.” For example, the individual who spent a lot of time aggregating data from various systems and funneling it into spreadsheets will suddenly be able to take on more meaningful, value-added work within the company.
Understanding this, SANSA empowers AMP agencies with the upskilling resources and other services they’ll need as their organisations shift over to using more automated financial and operational management. “We always factor in the ‘people’ aspect on every project,” said Fidler, whose team members are also well versed in the functional aspect of building integrations—knowing that every organisation has different needs and is coming from a different place on the technology spectrum.
With SANSA in their corner, AMP companies can keep many of their existing operational tools (e.g., Salesforce, Paprika and SYSPRO), production systems, and even timesheet billing systems like CimPro in place as they migrate to NetSuite. Once in place, these integrations enable a single, 360-degree view of the organisation’s financial and operational performance in one cloud- based system.
“We get companies live on NetSuite as quickly as possible, and then we help them get the very most out of their ERP investment”
“We always factor in the ‘people’ aspect on every project”
Tony Fidler, CEO & Founder — SANSA Solutions
Don't let time tick away
Once in place, NetSuite gives growing AMP companies the real-time operational visibility that so many of them have been missing for so long. The ERP also aligns business processes, streamlines workflows, eliminates manual processes, and speeds up the month-end process. For example, one UK publisher that recently worked with SANSA to implement NetSuite was able to whittle its month-end close time down from 14 days to just five. The organisation also reduced its purchase ledger from five days down to three. Its valued team members can now spend more time creating and less time managing manual administration tasks.
“NetSuite frees everyone up to be more creative, insightful and aware of new opportunities as they arise,” said Filder. “With a unified ERP in place, AMP companies can also more readily scale and take that M&A journey, knowing that new entities can very easily be onboarded into NetSuite.”
NetSuite also gives AMP companies in the UK an edge in an industry sector that continues to grow and present new opportunities every year. Companies that stick with their existing systems may miss out on those opportunities and even see their bottom lines suffer, while those that make the move to a new cloud ERP now can future-proof their operations and ensure long-term sustainability.
“If you’re running a multifaceted advertising, media, or publishing company and don’t know where your business is at right now—or where it’s headed—you’re already behind the rest of the pack,” said Fidler. You may also be dealing with software obsolescence, poor visibility and a workforce that expects to be able to work with the “latest and greatest” technology tools, and not some outdated business systems.
“Right, now a lot of software vendors are telling customers that they’re not going to support their products anymore, or that they have to move over to some funky new cloud system,” Fidler pointed out. “Rather than waiting for those applications to ‘expire,’ smart AMP companies are exploring their options, selecting their partners, and moving ahead with their ERP implementations now rather than later.”
“NetSuite frees everyone up to be more creative, insightful and aware of new opportunities as they arise”
Tony Fidler, CEO & Founder — SANSA Solutions
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