In every successful media campaign Ireland brands rely on speed, clarity and strong creative judgment. But new research suggests many marketing teams are losing momentum long before an idea reaches the audience, as approval delays, admin overload and disconnected systems eat into the time needed for better work.
Findings from Irish AI start-up Pacey show that marketers are eager to create, yet too much of their day is spent chasing sign-off, navigating conflicting feedback and hunting down files across multiple platforms. For brands planning a modern campaign strategy, the message is clear: improving workflow may be just as important as improving creative output.
Media campaign Ireland teams are facing a workflow problem
Pacey’s research, based on 286 responses across four surveys in eight countries including Ireland, paints a familiar picture for in-house marketing teams. While AI use is becoming more common, the day-to-day reality is still dominated by operational friction.
The study found that:
- 67% of marketing teams use AI regularly
- Only 8% use AI within actual workflows
- 66% were frustrated by work being delayed while waiting for feedback or approval in the previous three months
- 71% experienced delays because someone was searching for information or files
- Only 11% said their tools operated as one connected system
For any media campaign Ireland brands launch today, these numbers matter. Campaigns often live or die on timing, coordination and consistency. If teams are stuck in approval queues or switching between six to 15 tools each month, creative quality and campaign efficiency are bound to suffer.
Why approvals are draining marketing creativity
Marketers still love the craft. In the research, 58% said “making things” was among the best parts of their job. Yet the biggest drain on energy was not ideation, audience insight or production pressure. It was chasing approvals, cited by 40% of respondents.
Administrative work and tasks with unclear purpose followed closely behind at 36% each. That signals a deeper issue in campaign management: teams are not only overloaded, they are often working without enough clarity from the start.
Too many stakeholders, not enough direction
One of the biggest obstacles identified in the survey was the volume of stakeholders involved in decision-making. Some 35% said too many stakeholders or conflicting feedback was the most common barrier to effective marketing. Even more striking, three in four respondents said they had seen work redone because the original direction was unclear.
For a media campaign Ireland agency team or in-house department, this creates a costly loop:
- A brief begins without full alignment
- Creative is produced and circulated
- Feedback arrives late or conflicts internally
- Work is revised, sometimes repeatedly
- Launch timelines shrink and energy drops
The result is not just slower output. It is weaker creative confidence and less time for strategic thinking.
AI adoption is growing, but trust remains a barrier
AI is clearly present in marketing, but marketers are still cautious about where and how it should be used. Pacey’s research found that concern over generic content and weak creative judgment is limiting broader adoption.
The leading barrier to greater AI use was the belief that it could make marketing feel generic or lacking in taste, cited by 39% of respondents. Privacy, legal, security and intellectual property concerns came next at 32%, while 24% said AI outputs required too much checking, editing or correction.
This is especially relevant in a competitive media campaign Ireland environment, where brand distinction matters. If campaigns begin to sound alike, audience attention becomes even harder to win.
Can AI support creativity without replacing it?
Interestingly, the research also shows marketers are not rejecting AI outright. Instead, they want better AI with stronger context. Three-quarters of those responsible for approving creative said current AI lacked the taste needed for strong marketing. However, 51% of those same sceptical approvers agreed AI could demonstrate taste if given enough context and direction.
There is also broader optimism:
- 78% expect AI to make brands sound more alike
- 62% believe AI can improve marketing without replacing human judgment
- 82% would be more willing to use AI that consistently understood their brand, customers, goals and previous work
That suggests the future of AI in campaign planning is less about replacing copywriters or designers and more about reducing complexity around them.
Where AI could help a media campaign Ireland strategy most
One of the strongest takeaways from the research is that the industry may be focusing on the wrong AI use case. Much of the debate has centered on content generation, yet that is the area where human creativity still adds the most value. Meanwhile, the less glamorous but more operational side of marketing remains underserved.
For a stronger media campaign Ireland strategy, AI may be more useful in areas such as:
- Organising fragmented campaign assets and information
- Summarising customer feedback and large datasets
- Improving brief quality before creative work begins
- Reducing manual admin and reporting tasks
- Speeding up approvals through better workflow visibility
These functions do not dilute creativity. They protect it. By automating complexity, teams gain more time for concept development, brand storytelling and performance analysis.
What brands and marketers should do next
If campaign leaders want better outcomes, they need to look beyond output volume and address the system around the work. Faster content production alone will not solve bottlenecks if unclear briefs and slow sign-off processes remain in place.
Practical steps include:
- Reducing the number of approval layers on core campaigns
- Creating tighter briefs with clearer objectives and decision criteria
- Connecting tools and file systems wherever possible
- Using AI to support research, workflow and information retrieval
- Defining where human judgment is essential and where automation can help
For any brand investing in a media campaign Ireland, operational discipline is now part of creative excellence. Great ideas still matter most, but they need the right process to survive.
Conclusion
The latest findings from Pacey reveal a pressing challenge for every media campaign Ireland team: creative energy is being drained by approval bottlenecks, fragmented systems and unclear direction. Marketers are open to AI, but they want it to remove friction, not flood the market with bland content.
The takeaway is simple. Brands that streamline approvals, improve briefs and apply AI to workflow complexity rather than just content generation will be better placed to produce faster, sharper and more distinctive campaigns.
