Interbrand

Summary

Interbrand GmbH reduce resourcing to a one-man job with CMap

Situation

Interbrand is the world’s leading brand consultancy, with offices in over 25 countries, delivering effective branding strategies to clients for the past 50 years. In 2016, Interbrand GmbH – their German and Central European offices – were struggling to efficiently manage their increasing number of staff and projects with spreadsheets alone. When Finance Director Carsten Dannert joined the company in 2016, resourcing was entirely being done in one spreadsheet.

“With spreadsheets, we couldn’t get that overview of our resourcing, so it was difficult to decide who was going to work on which project,” said Carsten. With six different client leads at a time updating the spreadsheet, it was “a system based on trust”.  

Carsten also felt that spreadsheets were too time-consuming; when staff would submit proposals, it was up to Carsten to check each one individually and match resources against the fee calculation. Without a better system in place, Interbrand couldn’t implement the processes and procedures they needed to increase efficiency, as too many staff were spending valuable billable time stuck in operational tasks.

“We were fortunate enough to grow rapidly, but after a certain size, spreadsheets just didn’t work for us anymore,” said Carsten.  

To add to the strain, staff just weren’t engaging with the system: “Creatives have an allergy to spreadsheets!” Carsten knew they needed a more powerful, intuitive system to handle job costing, resourcing and other key processes that their staff would engage with. That’s what led him to CMap in 2018.

"Creatives have an allergy to spreadsheets! We couldn’t get that overview of our resourcing, so it was difficult to decide who was going to work on which project."

- Carsten Dannert, Finance Director

Solution

Interbrand GmbH decided to implement CMap PSA edition, a bespoke operations platform for consulting and design agencies, to achieve the visibility, efficiency, and user-friendliness the firm was missing.

With CMap in place, resourcing went from being the responsibility of several people to just being managed by one dedicated person, with the time to now put clear resourcing processes in place: “Now our resourcing is centralized and fully transparent, managed just by one person.”

With all of their key operational processes within one system, Interbrand can now forecast into the future directionally, making resourcing even more valuable: “We can see upcoming staff bottlenecks, which helps us to make strategic decisions like choosing to bring in more associates.”

As well as resourcing, the Interbrand GmbH team also find plenty of value in the Fee Estimator tool, using it to instantly create accurate proposals – no double-checking required. Carsten also loves CMap’s offerings of both standard and custom reports, which provide critical visibility over key metrics like projected revenue.  

As for ease of use and adoption, Carsten says CMap is “much more intuitive” than spreadsheets: “Our creatives find CMap much more user-friendly.”

"Now our resourcing is centralized and fully transparent, managed by just one person. Spreadsheets just don't compare."

- Carsten Dannert, Finance Director

Results

• Improved Resourcing – “With CMap, I can see beyond just who’s busy and who isn’t – I can see the coming weeks, see how this affects overall allocation, and move resources accordingly. Spreadsheets just don’t compare.”

• Increased Efficiency – Key operational processes are “quicker”, with instant visibility allowing staff to make faster, more effective decisions: “We work much more efficiently – efficiency gain is a major advantage for us.”  

• More Accurate Quoting - “We can immediately see if a project is being effectively sold, and see the implications of our work.”