Myths About Efficiency

There’s one main myth about what efficient working does to creativity, according to our experts. 

As Canto’s Andrew Hall explains, “when we hear the word efficiency in creative and marketing, we sometimes have this preconception that it means templating and restriction, that it’s about less originality and more dumbing down of creative work just to be quicker.”

Sound familiar? Lane Kirkland, Senior Art Director at RMS Beauty, explains why this isn’t necessarily the case: “The misconception is that working efficiently is stifling, and it’s going to hinder you from really being able to express true creativity. Actually, you need organisation and efficiency in order to have creativity, because otherwise you simply won’t have time for it.”

It’s a point of view agreed on by Emma Sexton, founder of Inside Out Community, who adds that “process is paramount”. 

“It amazes me the amount of agencies which don’t adopt process. And for in-house teams specifically, you’ve just got to get the business-as-usual out of the way,” adds Emma. 

To give an example, many marketers admit that each month they spend hours – if not days – searching folders for content they’ve already created. Think about this for a moment and you’ll realise how crazy it is to waste time like this, especially as the tech exists to find assets instantly (see more below). That’s time which should be spent doing higher-value creative work.

So, there’s a consensus that having a streamlined workflow and standardised processes is actually good for creativity. But how can marketers make this a reality in their organisation?

Tech That Does Both

The smart approach is to introduce the right technology that enables both efficiency and creativity. Digital asset management (DAM) platforms like Canto are purpose-built to manage a company’s entire content lifecycle – from uploading, organising and tagging, to searching, sharing and distributing. As an AI-powered platform, Canto acts as a single intelligent content hub for all your brand and product content.

For businesses introducing their first DAM platform, it’s a true game-changer. With AI-enabled ‘Visual Search’, you can instantly track down a specific image or video simply by searching in normal language. No more folder-hopping frustrations or time-wasting.

Plus DAM platforms bring efficiencies not just to marketing teams, but a whole organisation, as they allow people to ‘self-serve’ the marketing assets they need, rather than bogging your team down in a sea of content requests. 

This tech is also a great way to eliminate human error and protect your brand. “In-house teams need to get out of the weeds,” insists Emma Sexton. “You need to take advantage of technology to enable the wider business, as it allows you to let go of control while still allowing the tech to put those guardrails in place.”

Find Out More

To sum up, the pressure to be more efficient isn’t a bad thing for creativity. In fact, it can introduce some useful processes – and tech – which can make your marketing more creative.

To find out more about the future of creativity and content operations, watch Canto’s Content Innovation Summit 2026.