The news: While many brands pursue virality online, manual work and lengthy review processes are causing them to miss out on trending moments.

• Two-thirds (67%) of US marketing professionals say their teams regularly miss out on important cultural moments because of slow review and approval timelines, per Typeface’s The Big Game Edition report.
• 71% of companies with more than 1,000 employees need more than a day to get approvals on quick-turn content, and 27% need over a week.

What it means: Cultural moments, from viral social trends to live events like the Super Bowl, are fleeting. If content isn’t published while audiences are watching and engaging, the opportunity disappears.

Technology can help, but it can’t fix workflows on its own—although 68% of marketers say AI gives them more time for strategic and creative work, that speed ends at content creation.

• Without connected systems that tie AI to approvals, brand guidelines, and data, teams still struggle to ship content in time.
• Adding more AI tools isn’t enough—teams need orchestrated systems that connect creation, compliance, and distribution, per Typeface.

Why it matters: When brands can’t act with speed, they miss opportunities to become part of live conversations. Content engagement drops because the timing is off, and competitors who can act faster steal attention and visibility.

In high-stakes viral moments, caution and risk aversion can slow approval timelines. Marketers need frameworks that preserve brand quality but also enable fast execution.

Recommendations for marketers: Removing the bottleneck between live trends and launch through process redesign, not just technology investment, is imperative for marketers who want to capitalize on cultural moments.

Streamline workflows, set up clear team leads for content review and approval to cut down on managerial red tape, and explore AI solutions that can be trained on brand voice and identity to maximize its application.

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