How ARM Creative runs full-service marketing campaigns with Asana AI

At ARM Creative, a single campaign can span broadcast TV, over-the-top (OTT) ads, radio, Spotify, paid social, display, and retargeting—all running at once, each with its own deadlines, specs, and approvals.

It used to be that campaign updates lived in email threads, while feedback was scattered across Slack and inboxes. Without a shared system, it was difficult to see whether a deliverable was approved, in progress, or falling behind.

Now, ARM Creative has standardized its marketing campaign workflow and embedded AI from brief to launch, allowing its small team of eight people to run complex, full-service campaigns without adding overhead.

A lot of people think that you may need a bigger team to run bigger campaigns. We just built the right system.

Colleen Chaloupka, Project Manager, ARM Creative

When talent outpaces tools

As ARM Creative grew into multiple locations and took on more campaigns, the same coordination challenges kept showing up.

“ As our agency grew, we found that our talent and our output had really outpaced our tools,” says Colleen Chaloupka, ARM Creative project manager. “Things could easily get stuck, so you couldn't tell if something was approved, in progress, or completely behind.” That lack of coordination resulted in missed deadlines, dropped feedback, and campaigns that didn't launch on time.

“We realized the lack of a shared system wasn't just an inconvenience,” Colleen says. “It was actually holding our agency back.”

How ARM Creative built an AI-backed campaign workflow that scales

To solve the problem, Colleen's team standardized its campaign workflow, then added automation and AI to support it.

AI and automation handle the coordination work—routing approvals, updating statuses, and moving deliverables through each stage—while the team stays focused on the creative and strategic decisions.

Here's how it works:

Step 1: Every campaign starts with a standardized template 

When a new campaign project is created, a standardized template automatically populates the campaign project structure, including sections, tasks, subtasks, and custom fields.

Deliverables, file specifications, and placement requirements are built into the task descriptions, so every campaign starts with a complete structure.

Step 2: AI turns the client brief into a structured campaign plan

Once the campaign project is created, the team imports the client's creative brief and pulls the information directly into the Asana task.

From there, the team uses Asana AI to refine the brief and populate key fields such as objectives, messaging, team responsibilities, and strategy.

Step 3: The brief moves into creative review

Once the brief is complete, it moves to the creative director to review and approve. Their approval automatically triggers the next stage of the workflow, moving the campaign into concepting. The creative team uses the Figma + Asana integration to develop up to four visual concepts from the brief.

Step 4: Real-time visibility keeps teams aligned

As the campaign concepts move through review, custom fields update automatically, giving the whole team visibility into where everything stands. Whether a deliverable is approved, in internal review, or waiting on client feedback, the status is always visible.

Once the campaign concept and art direction are approved, the team updates the relevant fields and the remaining deliverables move into production.

Step 5: Campaign production runs in parallel across channels

With the direction approved, the campaign moves into full production, with tasks running simultaneously across channels including video, paid social, email, and out-of-home. 

The same standardized deliverable lists, specifications, and placement requirements follow the work through production. Assets are connected through the Dropbox integration, and when they’re ready for review, the team leaves feedback directly in Asana. Completed tasks automatically move through the workflow, and nothing advances to launch until it clears both internal quality assurance and client review.

Step 6: The media team coordinates the launch across every channel

Once assets are approved, the media team coordinates placement across channels. Confirmed launch dates are tracked in the system, giving the team a clear view of what is going live and when.

"Because of AI rules, we're able to see where everything stands and make sure that everything launches on time," says Colleen.

86% less coordination overhead, and campaigns that launch on time

From the campaign workflow alone, ARM Creative reduced coordination overhead by 86%, going from almost 400 minutes to 56 minutes per campaign. “The time it's saved us to launch or build a campaign from start to finish has improved tremendously,” Colleen says. “That allows us to put in time for more strategy or work on expanding our client list, or just make better work.”

For a small agency running full-service partnerships, that's also the difference between being reactive and being proactive. “We've been able to flag when things are at risk or if there's any issues that we have along the way, and we're able to address that immediately,” says Colleen. “It helps us keep on track with deadlines and timelines, and to make sure that we’re able to keep up with the work.”

Three lessons from building a campaign workflow that scales

For creative teams managing complex campaigns with limited resources, the approach at ARM Creative approach comes down to a few principles:

• Start by solving for the problem, not the tool. Before adding automation or AI, identify the specific friction points that keep slowing your team down. As Colleen puts it: "Start with the specific roadblocks that keep repeating in your workflow, and then build to eliminate those."

• Build AI into the workflow, not on top of it. Use AI to turn unstructured inputs into organized work and reduce the manual coordination that slows campaigns down.

• Scale the work, not the workload. Automate routine coordination so a small team can take on more complex campaigns without adding more overhead.

Agentic work management helps a small agency flow like a large one

Building the right system changed what’s possible for ARM Creative's small operation. By standardizing its marketing campaign workflow and embedding AI into it, ARM Creative can manage more complex, multi-channel campaigns without adding manual coordination.

"Before, it was nearly impossible for our small agency to manage such a big volume of projects and campaigns," Colleen says. "Now, our workflow really makes this possible."