McClatchy, a leading media company in the US, has been continuously evolving its print and digital marketing capabilities to stay competitive. The company faced several challenges in driving better audience engagement and achieving higher returns for its advertisers. Additionally, it needed to manage large volumes of work efficiently while reducing administrative time and improving ROI.
McClatchy onboarded Mediaferry to manage end-to-end creative operations workflow, enabling seamless transitions across booking, fulfillment, and delivery channels for both print and digital advertising. The end-to-end creative workflow management was across print, digital, and video campaigns.
The solution included phased integrations with McClatchy’s existing booking systems, CRMs, ad management platforms, and preflight servers, including Atex, Google Ad Manager, and Salesforce. Additionally, Mediaferry’s SmartDesign AI™ and SmartCorrect tools helped semi-automate production workflows, improving the speed and efficiency of their operations.
Bringing in Mediaferry enabled McClatchy to manage cross-channel advertising production across video, digital and print. It was connected to McClatchy’s booking and CRM systems, streamlining data transfer between different systems and improving efficiencies. This led to better engagement with their customers by allowing them to access Mediaferry for creating assets, reviewing them, and approving instantly.
Broadly, the results were automated and streamlined ad campaign traffic monitoring, since Mediaferry empowers sales and customer service teams. It helps in-house and external designers and advertisers to publish their banners on ad servers and track campaign performance in real-time.
Real-time comprehensive campaign performance reports are provided by the new operations workflow system. This enables decision-makers to gain insights into the ROI of their ad campaigns. Tracking progress is easy, and reports can be shared with stakeholders. All these help with transparency and informed decision-making.
Using Mediaferry’s automated production and workflow management, McClatchy was able to effectively manage their creative campaigns. It also helped them to automate their end-to-end creative production process.
McClatchy – historic, nimble and committed to freedom of expression
What began in 1857 as a four-page newspaper, The Daily Bee in Sacramento, California, has grown into a digital network spanning local markets from California to Florida, from Washington state to Washington D.C. Later renamed The Sacramento Bee, the group expanded with The Fresno Bee in 1922 and the purchase of The Modesto Bee in 1927.
More than a century of growth was fueled by the acquisition of media companies in growing markets across the country, including the 2006 purchase of Knight Ridder, which made McClatchy, at that time, the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States. In 2020, McClatchy transitioned to private ownership under Chatham Asset Management. The work of journalists from its media companies has been honored with many awards, including more than 50 Pulitzer Prizes.
Today, McClatchy operates a leading local media company in 30 U.S. markets, connecting and engaging with its communities through print, digital, mobile apps, and its fierce commitment to local news. It sees itself today as, “More connected and more nimble—and our role as truth-tellers and protectors of independent voices more vital than ever.”
Mediaferry & InnerGroup
Mediaferry was founded by Robert Berkeley and Tariq Husain to streamline creative production through technology and automation. The idea was born inside EKCS, the global creative production company they launched together in 2002. Originally developed as an internal tool to automate workflows and improve efficiency across high-volume campaigns, Mediaferry quickly became essential to EKCS’s operations. Its impact was so strong that it was productivized and officially launched to external clients in 2024.
Since 2002, EKCS has supported brands, agencies, and media companies in solving creative production challenges and improving operational efficiency. With over 600 staff working across ISO-certified production centers, EKCS delivers 24/7, cross-platform production at scale. Its award-winning workflow solutions have powered leading publishers, including McClatchy, National World, and Postmedia.
Berkeley and Husain built EKCS from the ground up. Berkeley, a serial entrepreneur and host of the Inside Jobs podcast, has spent over two decades helping in-house agencies grow and succeed. His interviews with creative leaders at brands like Coca-Cola, Oracle, and Intel have helped shape the conversation around in-house transformation.
Husain leads EKCS’s global operations and is the architect of Mediaferry’s platform. His deep roots in the publishing industry go back three generations, beginning with his grandfather’s block-making business in the 1940s. That legacy of craft and innovation carries through today in Mediaferry’s modern, AI-powered creative workflow system.
In 2025, the two founders launched InnerGroup to further support the evolving needs of in-house agencies. InnerGroup helps brands unlock the full potential of their internal marketing teams through advisory, operations support, and scalable creative delivery. Its proprietary InnerAssessment framework and Mediaferry platform work together to accelerate in-house efficiency and output across all media formats.
