Executive Summary

The 2024 Cella Intelligence Report, formerly known as the In-House Industry Report, focuses on providing a universal view of the current state of Marketing and Creative Operations. In its 14th year, this annual report focuses on the dynamics that marketing and creative operations teams experience across the industry as well as within their specific organizational structures. As our readers have come to expect, we will benchmark this year’s survey trends against the previous year’s findings and provide analysis.

New this year, we have added a section focused on artificial intelligence. AI has been catapulted into the forefront of marketing and creative teams’ operational consciousness. While discussions around AI are ubiquitous and enthusiasm for it is high, the practical implications of adoption, productivity strategies and implementation are still in their infancy for most organizations.

The highwire act of balancing planning with priorities is an ongoing pain point for many organizations. With Marketing Operations teams spearheading planning as a top priority (72%), only 39% of Creative Operations teams have a seat at the planning and forecasting table. Not surprising, teams are stretched thin. Almost half of both Marketing and Creative teams report not being adequately sized to meet business needs. The increased use of offshore teams to fill the gap demonstrates that a resourcing remedy is close at hand.

Metrics and measurement have become the name of the game when making a business case for more resources. However, when Marketing and Creative teams don’t have the operational data, it becomes extraordinarily challenging to demonstrate needs to executive decision makers. The necessity for Marketing and Creative leaders to acquire, analyze and use pinpointed operational maturity metrics cannot be overstated. When they come together to share data, it can become a catalyst to drive the interests of both sides – and the business as a whole – forward.