Creative Manager Carves Niche In Agency Management Software Industry

July 19, 2006

Lakewood NJ - Fueled by the traditional large agencies and a rapidly growing number of boutique firms that are emerging nationwide, the advertising industry is thriving. This vitality has translated into a flourishing business for Creative Manager Inc. Bolstered by the niche it has crafted as the leading developer of agency and project management software, Creative Manager (http://www.Creative-Manager.com) has seen its revenues increase by an average of 400 percent per year since its inception in 2001.

The products behind Creative Manager's growth are Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro. Designed by seasoned veterans who have been in the Mac environment for 25 years and who have developed specialized project management software for the creative industry, both programs work seamlessly with Windows and the Mac OS. By using Creative Manager Pro software, agencies are provided with userfriendly, Web-based project management and job tracking tools, which streamlines important business functions such as accounting, financial reporting, digital asset management, business development, project staffing, work flow management, and client portal / extranet for seamless relationship management. Creative Manager Pro integrates with existing media platforms such as Strata and SmartPlus to allow firms to centralize all data into a comprehensive software solution that can be accessed from anywhere without the use of special software or a connection to the office.

Born of a merger between A La Carte Systems Inc. (at http://www.alacartesystems.com) and Streamline Technologies, the new company combined the development proficiency of Streamline Technologies with the consulting and installation expertise and service reputation of A La Carte Systems.

"Our trainers who installed Streamline's software at client locations liked the product and recommended it," said Ron Ause, Creative Manager's director of marketing and former partner at A La Carte Systems. "For every other software package we supported, it would typically take a few days for the installation and training process at the client location. Streamline's product was so user-friendly and easy to understand that it would take our trainers just a half-day."

This presented an opportunity for both companies.

"Since Streamline's product was the best one on the market, and it took much less time to install and train, our average fee per project dramatically decreased," Ause explained. "It was a catch-22. We felt we couldn't recommend any other product, but we couldn't make a baseline profit margin with the reduced time we spent at the client location installing Streamline's product."

Fortunately, for A La Carte Systems and Streamline Technologies, each company offered something the other needed. Streamline provided the cutting edge software that was the leader in its industry, and A La Carte Systems possessed the consulting, training & support services, and marketing savvy to make Streamline's product whole. The two companies became one in 2001, and growth has skyrocketed.

"Today, we concentrate on understanding the entire business process, not just the features of the software," said Ause.

"When agency management software was originally designed, it included accounting, billing, job costing and media functions," Ause explained. "Emerging technology necessitated new options like digital asset management, project management and extranet interaction with clients."

"Since existing software didn't address this, many agencies chose to write their own solutions," he added. "When we introduced the Creative Manager Pro product, it included all of the options our clients wanted and needed. It's a user-friendly product and is supported with timely customer service, which also contributed to our growth because agencies appreciate that when there is a problem, it is promptly fixed."

"In 2001, sales of the software were 500 percent higher then they were before the merger. We reached 500 percent growth again in the second year," Ause said. "We were confident we had a market niche, but we figured sales would slow down. They did, to roughly 300 percent, which has brought us to an average growth rate of about 400%."

Creative Manager currently deals mostly with small ad agencies and design firms, which represent more than 80 percent of the total number of firms in the industry, but in the last two years, Creative Manager has started attracting the interest of large agencies. Today, the company has 600 clients.

"The large agency sector has opened a new market for us. It also influences smaller agencies when they see certain large agencies are among our clients." Ause said.

The emergence of Web-based technology has made project management and business management easier for ad agencies and design firms. To ensure that its technology continues to meet client needs, Creative Manager consistently communicates with clients and enhances its software.

"Our competitors release a new version about once a year, while we introduce enhancements to our software about every four to six weeks," Ause boasts. "Our dedication to keeping our products as up-to-date as possible, and the fact that, with our service, it takes hours to fix problems that with our competitors takes days, has caught the attention of our clients, and has helped us grow through word-of-mouth."

The company's latest version, Creative Manager Pro 8.3, features improved billing worksheets, which can be electronically routed to account executives for online review. Since the process is completely online, account people can access the worksheets anywhere and print billing worksheets to a PDF file or paper on demand when needed. This alleviates the need for an agency's accounting department to retype comments and generate draft invoices. It also provides electronic backup, leading to greater efficiency and speed in invoicing clients, which in turn leads to faster receivables.

"That's the Bottom Line," said Ause.

About Creative Manager
Creative Manager Inc. was established in 2001 with the merger of two consulting and technology firms, A La Carte Systems Inc. and Streamline Technologies. Creative Manager has created a prototype of project management software that fully integrates all departments. The cutting-edge software, utilized by more than 600 clients, is a userfriendly, Web-based project management and job tracking system, providing clients a single program for accounting, financial reporting, new business development, project staffing and management. For more information about Creative Manager or general company information, please visit http://www.Creative-Manager.com.
Take a test drive at http://www.Creative-Manager.com


Contact Info:
Ron Ause
Creative Manager, Inc.
800.203.7684 x3051
communicate. collaborate. control.