Saving 7500 hours every year

“When we pitch new clients, we show Funnel as part of our data stack. It shows power and trust.”

- Steven Hilgendorff - Head of Data and Analytics at Mediaschneider

Executive summary: 

By partnering with Funnel, Mediaschneider streamlined its client reporting, eliminated manual errors, and enhanced their focus on client relationships and analytics capabilities. The adoption of Funnel led to more than 7500 saved man-hours per year, enhanced client satisfaction, and opened the door for more advanced analytics projects.

Key results:

• Mediaschneider saved more than 7500 man-hours per year on reporting, allowing for more value-added activities.
• Standardized and automated client reports, eliminating human errors and improving report consistency.
• Freed resources for advanced analytics and client relationship-building through Funnel's automated API management.

Company profile:

Based in Zurich, Switzerland, Mediaschneider AG is a leading independent Swiss media agency employing around 80 experts from seven different countries. The agency specializes in media consulting, data and analytics, ad operations, and search.

The challenge: The struggle for efficient reporting

Mediaschneider, though adept at managing clients' digital campaigns, struggled with its in-house reporting process. Planners spent a ton of time manually creating client reports, totaling up to 7500 working hours per year across the team. Even so, the reports were susceptible to human error and inconsistent formats, meaning that the process was impossible to scale.

To remedy the situation, an initial decision was made to contract a team of external developers to build a custom, automated data collection tool. Before long however the team started experiencing problems with the system which had a tendency to break down due to API changes and thereby cause even more havoc. 

“It was a bad experience for us in the data team to know that the tool could break with no notice,” said Steven Hilgendorff, Mediaschneider’s head of data and analytics. “When it did, it could take us hours or days to troubleshoot.”

The solution: Finding the right partner in Funnel

After struggling with a shaky custom built system and breaking reports, Mediaschneider knew they had to find a trusted partner to help them collect and manage their clients’ data.

During their research phase, they had a clear idea of what the partner needed to prove in order to win their business. The partner would need to be able to work seamlessly and reliably for Mediaschneider’s largest client.

“If it works for our largest client, it will work for all of them,” Steven noted.

Upon implementing Funnel, the agency found it met all their expectations and they started rolling it out across its entire customer base. 

“With Funnel, we can outsource the API responsibility, and we know that you have a large team of developers focused on keeping the APIs functional,” Steven said.

The results: A new chapter in efficiency and client satisfaction

The agency's planners now spend a lot less time building reports and worrying about a report's integrity and more time focusing on client needs. Transparency has improved, and dashboards can be directly shared with clients. The Mediaschneider data and analytics team also found more time for high-value activities, such as predictive modeling and advanced reporting.

The success was such that Funnel became a core part of Mediaschneider's tech stack, even being featured in pitches to new clients. "We can now focus on high-value activities and offer even more to our clients," Steven concluded.