Observed Signal · Jul 20, 2026 · Product Launch · Source: The Drum · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Operational gridlock holding ad campaigns back
New research from XR of brands and agencies in the US and UK finds advertising production has surged while operational workflows lag, leaving creative assets unused and campaigns delayed. Key findings include 81% of marketers saying content production increased over the past year, only 30% believing resources match demand, 98% reporting late campaign launches, and 30–40% of produced creative never being used. Budget approvals, creative concepting and asset versioning are cited as major bottlenecks. Most marketers (88%) use AI in production workflows, but AI also increases operational complexity. XR is positioning a newly announced platform, XR One, as an AI-powered advertising operations solution that combines production planning, cost management, asset and rights tracking, versioning and cross-platform delivery to provide unified visibility across the advertising lifecycle.
Research quantifies major operational inefficiencies (delayed launches, unused creative) and XR's XR One platform announces an integrated solution for production, asset and cost management — relevant to marketers and MarTech vendors but not a major platform policy change.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- New research from XR surveyed brands and agencies across the US and UK about advertising production and operations.
- 81% of marketers said content production increased in the past year; only 30% believe resources are keeping pace.
- 98% of marketers report that campaigns launch late, and 30–40% of produced creative never gets used.
- 46% of marketers identified budget approvals as a top workflow bottleneck; creative concepting (38%) and asset versioning (32%) were also cited.
- 88% of marketers use AI in production workflows; XR announced XR One, an AI-powered advertising operations platform combining planning, cost management, asset and rights tracking, versioning and delivery.
Connected Companies & Entities
1 Entity mapped“New research from XR, conducted among brands and agencies across the US and UK, reveals an industry struggling to keep pace with its own suc...”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
XR Launches XR ONE Advertising Operations Platform
XR (Extreme Reach) launched XR ONE, an AI-powered advertising operations platform that centralizes production planning, cost management, rights, and delivery for brands and agencies. XR ONE includes four connected applications — XR Costs, XR Assets, XR Rights and XR Delivery — and is designed to provide end-to-end production project tracking, centralized cost visibility, audit-ready financial trails with ERP integrations, and delivery/ROI visibility across channels including linear TV, CTV, digital and social. XR says AI capabilities in the platform recommend ad formats, uncover vendor production savings and predict creative impacts on budgets and audience performance. The announcement cites XR research showing widespread increases in content production, common budget overruns, internal approval bottlenecks causing late launches, and significant unused creative assets.
88% of US advertisers now use AI in creative production, led by VFX, motion graphics creation and script writing
New XR press release added to newsroom: '88% of US advertisers now use AI in creative production, led by VFX, motion graphics creation and script writing' (dated 09 Sep 2026).
Marketers Increase AI and CTV Spend; Execution Gap Looms
A Mediaocean report highlighted by State of Streaming (Feb 5, 2026) finds advertisers are increasing 2026 budgets for Connected TV (CTV) and AI-driven media, but a large “execution gap” caused by fragmented ad tech and siloed systems is preventing brands from realizing the value of those investments. The report states 63% of advertisers are boosting spend on CTV and digital video, and over half are increasing AI-driven media spend, while more than a third are reducing local and national TV budgets. More than half of advertisers name fragmentation as their top concern; while over 40% use AI for data analysis, fewer than 20% use it for campaign orchestration, and only one in ten report a truly unified ad tech stack. Nearly 40% now prioritize orchestration to integrate tools, a shift Mediaocean’s CMO Aaron Goldman argues will drive advantage.
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