The Content Path: From Creation to Conversation

Trent Agnew, CEO APAC at Tag, on how evolving content production is shaping the path from creation to conversation.

It’s been a few weeks since we introduced Tag’s refreshed brand identity – a strategic shift that reflects the evolving needs of our clients and the full breadth and depth of our omnichannel expertise. At the heart of the rebrand is a sharpened focus on end-to-end production excellence, spanning ideation, adaptation, execution and delivery.

This is more than a visual update. It is about positioning Tag not only as a trusted production partner, but as a strategic enabler of brand experiences. It marks a milestone from Tag’s 50 years of firsts and to pioneering the future of production, through investment in advanced technologies.

We are committed to move from content to conversations, our world is no longer centered around creating one-way assets. Content must be informed, always on in the right channels, and brought together by iterative learning loops.

From Volume to Value
In APAC, we are seeing a common thread across our clients: the demand for content continues to rise – in fact, 88% of brands say that demand has doubled in the last year. But the ask isn’t just for more. It’s for better, faster and more relevant.

There is a shift underway – from volume to value, where brands still need high volume and speed, but there’s a clear need for more targeted, purposeful content that moves beyond simple adaptation. Agencies and brands cannot be satisfied with creating generic work that ticks a box (particularly lower tier adaptation style content). This is affecting the type and formats of content – how brands create it and how consumers consume it.

Yet the question remains: what does “more” actually look like? Clients are navigating new expectations – agility, cultural resonance and reach – all within tighter budgets and timelines.

The Orchestration Challenge
Many brands still follow a tradition pattern: run a few large campaigns a year (scale up or down depending on budgets), then resize assets for various channels. Agencies being very much complicit in this process. However, content is no longer a siloed activity, it requires understanding with creative and brand frameworks, and a connectedness to media in a way that poses a real orchestration challenge to brands today.

This traditionally one-way conversation has very quickly become multi-faceted with several layers of complexity. Channels increasingly have unique requirements, whether exotic 3D OOH placements, or a unique POSM display at the point of purchase. The reality is that all the skills and experience needed don’t live in-house, and rarely all under one roof.

AI: Promise vs Practicality
AI is often seen as the silver bullet – a promise of scalable, automated creativity. While 92% of companies plan to increase their AI investments, only 1% of senior leaders say they are “mature” enough to fully integrate it into workflows and drive substantial business outcomes.

The truth? AI is not a shortcut to content – and like any tool, its effectiveness depends on how and where it’s applied. Media hysteria would imply that a campaign could be delivered at one click of a button with AI, but that is not the case. We are entering an era where every nuance, whether it be media channel mix or IT infrastructure, can create the need for an entirely different approach to using AI/Automation in content production. Modern content production is here and with the right AI-powered workflow, you can accelerate the impact upon your brand.

What Comes Next?
Today’s content environment is complex. Bringing all these factors together, it creates a challenging environment for brands and agencies to succeed. Never mind the content saturated consumer. Especially when 75% of CMO’s cite siloed agency models as a barrier to effectiveness.

Brands need partners who can deliver a truly integrated end-to-end experience, instead of briefing 10 different agencies to deliver different components of the same brief, why not just 1? Get ahead of the brief, solve whatever the challenge may be, and start a different type of partnership.

As we shift towards this new approach, the traditional stop and start campaign has evolved. Intelligent agile delivery combined with data-driven insights will keep that conversation going. Connect with customers at the point of culture to drive real business outcomes. If you know what you want – it’s just one brief, we make it land.