It's a good idea to hold a pre-production kickoff call with the creative agency and post-production team if you're working across teams. This is the time to discuss all campaign launch dates, timelines, ad types, file-size limitations, tracking capabilities, etc. so you can avoid campaign discrepancies and make sure the ad launches on time. Make sure to ask the creative agency to share comps (previews of the creative execution) before the call so the post-production team is prepared to answer any questions.
Take notes and send a recap of the call to all teams involved so there's a record of next steps, and all parties are in agreement.
Follow this checklist to cover everything in the kick-off call:
Studio build
Confirm who will create and upload the files to Studio: the creative agency or the post-production team.
Understand the creative concept
The creative agency must reviews the creative concept (share and review the comps if available) and address any technical questions they have about data passing, video, XML feeds, and other rich functionality.
Spec collection
The media agency is responsible for spec collection and delivering them to the creative agency. The creative agency builds the ads to satisfy the least common denominator (LCD) requirements across sites.
Naming conventions
The media and creative agencies discuss naming conventions for creatives that are uploaded into their creative inventory. For example, Advertiser_Campaign_Concept_Size_Type_RM (Google_Android_Holiday_300x250_Expanding_RM)
Tracking
The media agency reviews any tracking they want in the creative, so the creative agency knows to include those details. For example, if you want to a report on how many times a user clicks on parts of a game, the creative agency must know this so it can add those specific tracking elements.
There are two types of metrics: standard and custom.
- Standard metrics usually require no additional designer work. Standard metrics don't count toward your event limit. They're automatically enabled, measured, and reported on, where available. For example, the Rich Media Expansions metric is only available for expanding ads.
- Custom metrics are enabled by a designer or developer using Google Web Designer components or the Studio API. Custom metrics can measure up to 400 total user interactions per Rich Media creative, including a maximum of 100 exit events.
Launch date and timeline
Create a timeline by counting backwards from the launch date and including site testing and trafficking time.
Trafficker contact
The media agency gives the creative agency the Campaign Manager 360 trafficker's contact information. This goes in the Traffickers field in Studio.
Make an association
To link a campaign with the Campaign Manager 360 advertiser, the creative agency sends an email to the trafficker to make an association. For more information, see the next section of this guide.