CommissionImpossible

A Middle Table research film

Video works. When it works, it really works.

So why does it so often fall short? We spoke to over 100 marketers about what actually gets in the way. Time. Budget. Approval processes. Creative decisions made by the wrong people at the wrong moment.

75%
say video is essential to their marketing strategy
50%
say the time it takes is the biggest barrier to producing more
47%
say budget is a barrier to producing the content they want
8%
are completely satisfied with their current video output

An honest account of a shared problem

For 50% of marketers, the single biggest barrier to producing more video is not budget or ambition. It is time. Yet 51% say they can get from idea to delivery in under four weeks when the conditions are right.

The gap between what is possible and what actually happens sits in the structures around the work. How briefs are written. Who signs things off. Whether the why behind a project is clear before production begins.

Commission Impossible does not point fingers. It names the patterns that most marketing teams will recognise, and starts to unpick why they are so persistent.

What you will take away

01

Why time is the barrier nobody expected, and what transparency across the business can do about it.

02

How to shift approval culture from slow and implicit to fast and explicit.

03

Why starting with the why, not the what, changes how budgets get released.

04

What it actually means to sweat your video content and build real return on investment.

Three barriers. One honest conversation.

Time and Process

Half of all marketers say time is their biggest barrier. Not budget. Not creative ambition. The film explores what gets in the way, and how clear strategy and the right production partner can change that.

Budget and Sign-off

47% say cost stands in the way. But as the film argues, budget is rarely the real problem. The real problem is not having a clear why before you ask for the money.

Quality and Originality

Just 8% are fully satisfied with what they produce. The film explores what quality actually means, why predictable work gets ignored, and how to raise the creative bar without raising the budget.

Watch the films

Part One
Part One
Part Two
Part Two
Free access

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE

We also created a companion piece covering:

Five commissioning principles.
Three common mistakes we see repeatedly.
A ten-question evaluation framework to assess your current process.
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