Peel open the top of any agency, and you'll uncover a glorified assembly line that has changed relatively little during the past 40 years. Ads or collateral are passed in job bags from concept to execution to quality control and then to production, aided by such tools as email, spreadsheets and even sticky notes.

This process has numerous problems. Data collection is difficult. Changes or approvals slow the process considerably. Worst of all, the redundant process adds little value to clients.

As a result, agencies need to move away from their time-honored processes toward branding systems. Branding systems have multiple advantages. They add structure and discipline to processes. They ensure uniformity in internal and client interactions. They institutionalize knowledge so that the wheel is not always being re-discovered. And, most important, they establish measurement and accountability.

Without such measurement, branding's organizational role will continue to decline. In a survey among companies from The Times 1000, only 57% of finance directors - the people who ultimately write the cheques to agencies -- believed marketing investments helped long-term corporate growth; 27% believed that marketing was only a short-term tactical measure; and 32% said marketing was the first budget they would cut in hard times (such a surprise).

The first type of branding system is strategic. These consist of scorecards, which involve a matrix of interrelated goals, activities and measurements, and the well-known Six Sigma, which seeks to reduce defects through measurement and the elimination of variability. Not only will these strategic systems help agencies reduce redundancies and improve both profitability and accountability, they also represent an important value-add to clients. Unless agencies incorporate strategic systemic skills into their offerings, they will undoubtedly find their strategic role usurped by the top accounting firms and other consultancies.

The second type is tactical. Marketing performance management (MPM) systems automate the routine - but still critical - activities that form the backbone of branding execution. Lead management systems track a lead from prospect to customer acquisition; campaign management systems manage acquisition segmentation and/or customer communications; and resource management software helps ensure that jobs get out the door on time and on budget.

These MPM - also known as Enterprise Marketing Management (EMM) -- systems not only ensure that agencies run more efficiently but also help meet the increasing CEO and CFO demand for branding accountability. The CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) Council studied MPM and concluded that "companies with a formal comprehensive MPM system significantly outperformed companies that had not even entered the consideration phase, with mean performance ratings 29%, 32% and 37% better in relation to sales growth, market share and profitability. … Generally the greater the adoption of MPM, the more satisfied the CEO".

Traditionally, lead management has been a responsibility of sales. But increasingly, that role is being handled by marketing in measurement-conscious companies. Lead management software can track how many leads marketing is actually delivering, including where they come from, how they get handed off to sales and whether or not they lead to business. Campaign management systems can simplify the onerous task of media planning and placement, but are most commonly used today for targeted email campaigns.

For agencies, the fastest growing segment is resource management software. These increase productivity by recreating job-bags electronically in a secure online environment. Agency personnel - and clients - access the job bag to check progress, outline next steps and issue instructions and sign-offs. Resource management software also provides process and design templates, helping to ensure brand consistency across an enterprise. And such software considerably simplifies billing.

Traditionally, the fragmentation of the agency business and the complexity of the processes has meant that agencies have considered themselves automated if they have email. But such ad hoc tools are no longer enough when branding investments are receiving greater hard-nosed scrutiny. To avoid commoditization of their offerings, agencies and internal departments must look closely at strategic and tactical systems to demonstrate tangible business value, cost-justify investments, calculate ROI, better allocate resources and demonstrate improvements in profitability.