Today's ad production engine is under pressure: marketers are expected to create more content, for more formats, with fewer resources than ever before. The result is a creative process that often slows itself down and costs more than it should. AI promises to change everything, but for many teams, it's introduced as many questions as it has answers.
To explore these dynamics, XR partnered with a leading research firm to survey 400+ marketers and creatives across brands, agencies, and production studios. The findings reveal the key trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping this rapidly evolving industry.
Everyone Is Under Pressure to Deliver More Content
81% say content production has increased from just a year ago
70% are producing more ad content across more formats with less resources
Only 30% say resources are keeping pace with the demand for more content
The vast majority of agency and brand marketers say they are under constant pressure to deliver more creative with the same or fewer internal resources.
More than 80% say they are producing more creative content than a year ago. But only 30% think their resources are keeping up with demand.
Agencies, in particular, are feeling it, with clients pushing for more content without meaningful budget increases to support the added workload.
Marketers Feel In Control, the Data Disagrees
As brands and agencies are creating more content than ever, keeping track of budgets, spending, and how their work moves through the pipeline is critical.
When asked about visibility into production-related costs throughout a campaign lifecycle:
- 92% of respondents described it as good or excellent.
- 84% reported strong alignment between their creative and finance teams.
Yet, despite this confidence, the majority of marketers and creatives admit that going over budget and launching late is the new norm.
70% of marketers break their budgets
Across agencies and brands, 7 out of 10 marketers report going over budget at least some of the time. For brands, scope creep and unplanned revisions or reshoots are the leading causes of budget overages. Agencies, meanwhile, point to shifting platform and channel requirements as a major contributor.
Approvals Are Costing Everyone Time and Money
Budget approvals are still a major headache for everyone, with nearly half of all marketers flagging them as a top source of friction between the CMO and CFO.
When creative and finance teams are not aligned, campaigns stall.
And it's not just budgets. The breakdowns are everywhere. Legal approvals, handoffs, internal processes, version creation, all the unglamorous stuff that stands between a great idea and an actual launch.
Budget Approvals
A consistent workflow bottleneck for marketers
Creative Concepting
Getting the creative concept right continues to slow the work
Asset Versioning
Third overall, but the number one bottleneck for brand marketers
Scope Cuts Are the Norm
Every marketer has a story that goes something like this: Campaigns get approved, budgets get greenlit, momentum builds, then someone schedules a Zoom call. Suddenly scope shrinks, legal has notes, and "full speed ahead" becomes "let's revisit."
Too Much Great Creative Dies Before Launch
Brands and agencies pour millions into ad creative that never sees the light of day
Even after a production wraps, changes in creative direction and other bottlenecks often keep great ads from reaching audiences.
Another pain point: assets built to the wrong specs for the wrong platforms. All that work, and the ad never runs.
Campaign direction changes after production
Asset did not perform well in testing
Budget was reallocated
Technical specs did not meet platform requirements
Timing / missed campaign or promotional window
Asset was not approved by client or legal
"We spent a year working on a project for a major tech brand, and once it was finished, they decided not to use it. Four years later, the same client came back with the exact same brief, and the same thing happened again.”
Prominent Commercial Director
Creative Time Spent vs. Dollars
Social channels get the most attention, but the budget is going to CTV, linear, and podcasts
Where Brands Are Spending
Brands are producing social content at scale, but investing more deliberately in podcasts, CTV, and linear.
Where Agencies Are Spending
Linear still tops the list of priorities for full-service agencies, followed by podcasts and CTV.
Paid Social Media
Majority of time and effort goes into creating social assets, but the budget goes to CTV and linear.
CTV
CTV ranks third for time, effort, and is an investment priority for everyone surveyed.
Podcasts
Both agencies and brands are putting more time and money into audio and podcast channels.
#1 Podcasts
Just 39% produce ad content for audio and podcasts, yet it's a top investment priority across every segment. The gap is the story.
#2 Linear
The traditional linear TV ad still anchors campaign creative and remains a leading investment priority for national brands.
#3 CTV
CTV ads fit the same format as their linear counterparts, but the platform offers a cost-effective alternative for challenger brands.
The work lives in social and online video. The money still goes in CTV and linear. But podcasts are knocking on the door, and someone's about to let them in.
In-Housing vs. Agency: Where the Work Lives
Early-stage creative and social content is increasingly going in-house, while brands look to their agency partners for high touch creative production.
More brands are building in-house agencies and studios to keep up with the demand for content across platforms. And everyone is still trying to figure out where in-house ends and agency work begins.
A pattern is starting to take shape though: brands are often holding onto early-stage creative work, while relying on agency partners for complex finishing, post-production, and VFX.
Ad versioning, resizing, and adaptation
Social content
Branded content
Post production, VFX, and finishing
Animation and motion graphics
Full production with cast and crew
AI Is Officially Part of the Team
AI is now being used across creative workflows by major brands and agencies. 88% say they are actively using or piloting AI in their advertising production, with nearly half using it daily
Full Service Agencies
62% - Use AI daily to help scale their VFX capabilities, ad testing, and storyboarding output
National or Global Brands
42% - Use AI to accelerate campaign brief writing, image creation, scripting, and voice-overs/audio generation
Production Companies
79% - Are actively using AI in production workflows or piloting AI tools for specific projects
Media Agencies
36% - Still use AI primarily for experimentation, making them the lowest-indexing group surveyed
45% Visual Effects (VFX) / Compositing
44% Performance Analysis / Creative Testing
44% Image Creation
42% Video / Motion Generation
41% Scripting / Copywriting
38% Ad Versioning & Adaptation
"There’s been a lot of fear of AI, but in reality, it’s helping us move faster, be more efficient, and improve what we're already good at."
Orlee Tatarka, Head of Production, Wieden+Kennedy (shots OOTB, 2026)
AI Talent Has Entered the Chat
Synthetic talent and digital replicas are beginning to have a moment, and agencies and brands are increasingly willing to experiment.
While brands are taking a more cautious approach to AI talent, nearly one-third of full-service agencies reported already using synthetic performers in some capacity.
- Synthetic Talent is an AI performer with no connection to a real person.
- Digital Replicas are AI-generated or modified performances tied to a real performer.
As AI moves deeper into production, the next challenge is not simply adoption, it is governance and ensuring that rights, approvals, consent, and compensation keep pace with creative.
Source: Adidas recreated a younger David Beckham for its “Backyard Legends” campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
AI Is Powering Speed First, Savings Second
Across agencies and brands, AI is being deployed for speed and output, applied not to replace senior creative talent, but to accelerate the production factory floor. Notably, cost reduction ranks a distant third, suggesting agencies and brands see AI as a performance enabler, not a cost cutter.
Agencies use AI to focus on improving creative assets and speed-to-market. Meanwhile, brands are focused on producing more assets to meet the growing demand of cross-platform media channels.
Research Methodology
This report contains proprietary industry research conducted by XR in partnership with MX8 Labs, a leader in marketing research.
- Survey was fielded in May 2026
- Included 400 marketers in the US and UK
- Across full-service agencies, media agencies, boutiques, creative production agencies, and national brands
- Features recent leadership quotes from shots Magazine, an XR publication
Respondents were asked their opinions on the following topics:
Budget Pressure and Outlooks
Creative Investment Priorities
Project Resourcing
Creative Volume
Top Internal and External Bottlenecks
Asset Utilization
AI Usage
and much more
Introducing XR ONE
The findings of this report are clear: advertising is growing more complex, fragmented, and driven by an ever-growing demand for content. And the operational cracks are showing.
XR ONE is the first advertising operations platform that connects every stage of the advertising lifecycle, letting brands and agencies better manage how their ads are produced, paid for, and delivered across every media platform.
With XR ONE, advertising operations are no longer a back-office tasks, it's the backbone of modern advertising. It delivers:
- End-to-end production tracking, from creative briefs, bids, and budget approvals to payments and in-market delivery
- Centralized cost management across all marketing teams and agencies, removing silos and spreadsheet chaos
- Ad delivery visibility that connects what is spent on an asset and campaign to how they are used in-market
Contact us to get a demo of the platform transforming ad ops.
About XR Extreme Reach
We love all things ad ops and it shows. Our culture is built around passion for great creative storytelling and making every campaign run smoothly from production to playout.
Our new XR ONE platform helps brands and agencies manage everything from talent payments and rights to ad delivery, so every ad lands exactly where and how it should.
Today, we power millions of campaigns for the world's top brands, making it simpler for marketers to manage bids and budgets, version assets, deliver ads, pay talent, and track rights. Less chaos, more craft and creativity.
Headquartered in New York, XR has amazing people, teams, and offices throughout North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America.
Welcome to the XR State of Ad Ops Report, the first ever industry-wide study examining the state of ad creative, advertising production, and marketing operations.