Posted by Simon King, European Operations Director for Imagination

Editor's note: Today we hear from Simon King, EMEA Operations Director for Imagination, a full-service, independent global design, communications and experiential agency serving clients that include Ford, Shell and Canon. With 1,200 people working across 20 global offices, Imagination uses Google Apps to increase efficiencies and save money. Learn how they’ve created efficiencies worth in excess of 800,000 pounds to the business over the past 5 years by adopting Google Apps.

 Our team works together across the globe to deliver creative campaigns for some of the world’s most well-known brands. But imagine this: a team of 1,200 sharing a 750,000-asset library that’s virtually impossible to keep track of. Now add a manual and time consuming recruitment process and you’ll begin to understand how technology is every bit as crucial to our business as creativity. Google Apps for Work offers the exact tools we needed to overcome these challenges.

Google Drive has created efficiencies worth in excess of 100,000 pounds per year to the business by more than halving the time we spend searching for files in our cloud-based asset library. We no longer waste time with daily file searches hampered by misfiled, duplicated or out-of-date data, as each and every uploaded asset is tagged with metadata that makes it instantly searchable. With an average of 28 searches per day, each one taking just one minute to complete, the Google Drive asset library has revolutionised the way we work.


The cloud technology also means any member of staff with authorised access can download any file, no matter where or when it was created. Today our teams operating in 80 different countries can access the entire Imagination portfolio – anytime, anywhere – knowing they’ll be able to find the right files instantly. We’ve used it to create presentations in Moscow hotel lobbies, and review work in Sydney that was created a few moments before in London, all by easily pulling up files in our asset library on Google Drive. As one of our EMEA Client Services Directors explained to me, “Having the entire Imagination portfolio wherever I am is a game changer for business development.”

We also use Google Forms to simplify the process of recruiting. Google Forms have replaced a lengthy and time consuming paper-based recruiting process, with the digital system creating efficiencies worth in excess of 60,000 pounds every year in our London office alone. Each of the completed Forms triggers an email to relevant staff members, giving us a single, simple way to procure resources. By linking Google Forms and Sheets, our staff can manage critical resourcing no matter where they’re working, whether it’s from home or in an airport lounge. It’s added increased rigour to a crucial business process, and removed the potential for errors.

Google Apps reduced the time to get new joiners productive — we simply share access to Google Drive, using Drive’s advanced security settings to share relevant information with the right people, and they’re ready to work. From day one, they have instant access to more than 25 years of Imagination’s work and experience, and with two-factor login authentication, we can be sure we’re protecting confidential information.

As one of the early adopters of Google Apps in 2010, we’ve made use of all it has to offer to reach our primary goal: Transforming business through creativity. The technology has helped us minimise the back office challenges and maximise how we communicate and share our achievements with our colleagues globally. Google Apps has helped us create a real competitive advantage and save thousands in the process. Imagine that.