Who’s behind The Spec Sheet?

We’re a bunch of ad industry insiders trying to make everyone’s lives easier. The Spec Sheet was started by Co-Founders Sharon Gray and Jesse McLallen, who have a combined 30 years in ad production and creative. Sharon’s background is in digital production and project management, while Jesse brings his technical and creative chops to the party. 

Why did they start The Spec Sheet?

It was yet another dreaded dropbox full of ad specs that first made Sharon and Jesse think, “surely there must be a better way”. Turns out, there wasn’t. It was just too big a problem to solve - but the status quo was not sustainable. Sharon and Jesse saw and experienced firsthand the stress ad specs cause many in the ad industry, and so they set out to make everyone’s lives easier.

How was it created?

Lots of time and effort and industry consultation have resulted in The Spec Sheet platform. Being independent and just wanting to solve the problem, means every party has been taken into account and will benefit from The Spec Sheet.

How do I get The Spec Sheet?

We launched a new improved version in April 2023. To get a demo or signup, simply reach out to our team using the contact form here, and we will get you onboard and creating campaigns in no time. If you really want to jump the queue , email us directly at hello@thespecsheet.com

How do you get specs on to The Spec Sheet?

There are a couple of ways we get specs from media owners and add them to our hub. To start, we work closely with the media owners’s ad ops departments so that we know the specs are up-to-date and accurate. For media owners with lots of specs, we connect up our systems so that the ad formats in their inventory match up with its listing in The Spec Sheet. For media owners with a smaller number of specs, these are loaded by us and their ad ops teams and they are prompted to check and double-check their listings regularly. Keep an eye out for the media owner verification status - that means that those specs are update-to-date and being managed by the media owner.

What spec info is available on The Spec Sheet?

Each spec listing has been carefully crafted to make sure that all media owners, media agencies and creative agencies have the right info for every ad format you can think of. For media owners - that means placement details and delivery details. For media agencies - in addition to the placement and creative references, you can add extra info about the booking timings, creative instructions, campaign objectives and phasing. For creative agencies - you see the detailed production-ready documentation so you can execute exactly what is required for the campaign.

Where is The Spec Sheet available?

We’re launching The Spec Sheet in Australia, but will be rolling out to other countries as soon as we can. If you’re in another country and are keen to get us to launch there, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us via the Contact page.

How do I get in touch with The Spec Sheet team?

All our contact details are on our contact page. But seeing as you’re here we’ll make it easy for you - you can email us directly at hello@thespecsheet.com

See more on the About Us page.

Which media owners are on The Spec Sheet?

We’ve been busy getting all the big media owners on The Spec Sheet, from every channel - radio to banners to billboards and beyond. If the specs you want aren’t on The Spec Sheet, you can still add these placements to your spec sheet. We’ll then follow up with that media owner to validate the specs.

What if a media owner’s ad specs that I want are not on The Spec Sheet?

Lucky you - we’ll get them for you. If you share who’s specs you’re after and your media owner rep, we’ll chase them down and get them into our system. We have a whole team dedicated to just that.

How do I know that a media owner’s specs are the most up to date?

The verification status is shown on each ad placement, showing that a spec has been verified, and also tells you when that last verification happened. If the specs of an ad placement on one of your live spec sheets is changed for some reason, you and your collaborators will be automatically notified straight away.

I’m a media owner - how do I get my specs on The Spec Sheet? 

Welcome. We’d love to get your specs on The Spec Sheet. See our media owner’s page for more information, or get in touch with us via hello@thespecsheet.com

What does The Spec Sheet cost? 

We’ll be releasing our pricing soon. In the meantime, we’re working with key clients who are interested in access to The Spec Sheet. If you’re keen to know more, get in touch with our team. 

Can you prepare a proposal for me?

Contact us via hello@thespecsheet.com and we’ll help you out.

Can I get a Proof of Value for me or my team? 

Sure thing. Simply book a demo here or reach out directly using the contact us form, and we can chat about getting your team onboarded and building spec sheets.

How much time will The Spec Sheet save my team?

The short answer is HEAPS. The long answer is... it depends. How are you currently managing Spec Sheets? Are you maintaining a big database of ad specs yourself? Are your campaigns big and complicated? Do you have lots of back-and-forth with your collaborators? If you paused to think about any of these questions, the answer is still HEAPS. We want to make ad specs a non-task. So fast and simple that anyone can create a Spec Sheet.

Who can I share The Spec Sheet with? 

You can collaborate with your internal team members to create a Spec Sheet, as long as they're set up as a user, on your account. So if you have a few people in the team working on a campaign, or a few different departments, like an offline and an online team who are involved in the campaign, then they can jump in and edit the sheet with you. 

Once you’ve completed your Spec Sheet you can add your client and creative partners to the share list. They’ll get the Spec Sheet on the first share, and any changes that happen along the way, including updated versions, if the plan changes, or alerts if a media owner makes a change to their ad spec info. 

What do my client and creative partners need to know The Spec Sheet? 

We think clients will be super interested to know how much time The Spec Sheet will be saving all of their agency partners, as well as the significant improvement in sharing and collaborating between everyone on ad specs.

We also think your creative partners will be thanking you. The Spec Sheet will not only have all the details about the campaign, but all the specs are also now fully production-ready, with easy sort and filter functions, and they’re all in one place!

Who can see the specs sheets I create?

Any Spec Sheets you create will only be shared with the people you have designated. No one else is able to see them, ever.

Is all my information confidential?

Yes. Only you and your teams can see your account info, according to the permissions you’ve set. No campaign data or Spec Sheets you set up are shared with anyone external unless you have specifically invited them to view a Spec Sheet you’ve made. Check out our privacy policy for more details. 

Is there any campaign financial information stored on The Spec Sheet?

No. You don’t need to include ad spend or ad rates when creating a Spec Sheet. We’re only interested in managing the ad specs and spec sheets. 

Who has access to my The Spec Sheet account? 

You can set up permissions so that your collaborators can see the specs their teams are after. In your account you can manage their access levels. Please request a demo to see more about this feature.  

See our Privacy and Terms of Use for more information.

How will my The Spec Sheet account be set up?

We’ll guide you through the process of a new account set up. It’s simple and straightforward.

How will The Spec Sheet costs be billed?

We’re making a few different payment options available. Ask us about these when you request a proposal.

How do my finance team know which Spec Sheets are for which clients? 

Each TSS spec sheet you create on The Spec Sheet include key campaign identifiers, such as the brand, the campaign name, and a Job ID. These identifiers will be listed on the invoicing to support job reconciliations. 

What kind of reporting and tracking information can be accessed on The Spec Sheet?

You’ll get a whole bunch of reporting on your account - all your campaigns, number of Spec Sheet variations, who’s doing what.

Down the road, we’ll also be able to provide more analytics on your campaign ad placements across your clients and business.

What’s involved in onboarding The Spec Sheet? 

Getting onto The Spec Sheet is a cinch.

We’ll guide you through your account set-up, ensuring we have all your clients, teams and users configured the way you want. We’ll also have options down the track for setting up a preferred template for your organisation. There is not much more than that.

If you have central staff directories and single sign-on requirements, we’ll work with you and your IT team on linking this up with The Spec Sheet sign-on processes.

What kind of training will you provide me and my team? 

The good news is that The Spec Sheet is super easy to use, so a quick demo to walk through the features and your teams will be ready to go on the tool in no time. That will happen once the account is all set up. For new people who join your team after the initial set up, we offer regular training slots they can join every week. There’s also detailed training for the Master Account Admins to help them manage user setups and reporting, as well as helpful troubleshooting tips and tricks you can access anytime.

What do my client and creative partners need to know about The Spec Sheet?

The most important thing for them to know is that The Spec Sheet is a new way of dealing with ad specs, by centralising them in one place. Assure them that ad specs on The Spec Sheet are sourced straight from media owners, reducing the risk of error and saving time that would be spent sourcing and checking them. Let them know that each campaign Spec Sheet is viewable on the platform, including versioning notes, and they’ll be able to download a copy for their internal use. Plus, everything is confidential, and any changes are shared instantly with any collaborators.

What will the creative agency see on The Spec Sheet? 

When you share a Spec Sheet with the creative agency, they’ll be invited to visit the campaign URL where they can view the production-ready information and the campaign version changelog, as well as sort placements and download the TSS spec sheet for their campaign.

Coming soon! in 2022 creative agencies will be able to set up their own account where they’ll be provided with a dashboard to view the Spec Sheets shared with them. They won’t be able to see The Spec Sheet library or amend the campaign Spec Sheet on the platform - that’s just for the creators. However, we will be introducing on platform comments and MIs instructions delivery and a host of other great features to help everyone stage on the same page throughout the campaign delivery process.

What kind of account management and servicing does The Spec Sheet provide? 

Our friendly TSS Live Chat is available in the hub to ask questions and search our resources and articles. We’ve also added resources throughout the hub to support users - tips and tricks and helpful videos. These will be accessible in your account so you can easily refer to them at any time. 

Any other questions?

Please reach out to one of us via our Contact form. We’re more than happy to chew your ear off about specs or answer any query you may have.