How to choose a creative agency?
How to make your choice among hundreds of creative agencies offering their services? And how do you know that you need a creative agency?
There is a huge number of creative, communication, branding, advertising agencies and production studios on the market, each of which solves its own problems and has its own competencies. Many market players seek to expand the list of services, but you need to understand that each of the areas requires the creation of a separate team of specialists. As a result, such diversification leads either to a deterioration in the quality of work and communication, or to a significant increase in the cost of the project.
If you plan to launch an advertising campaign on different media, which should be united by one concept, or when you need an idea for a local task, then you definitely go to the creatives.
It would seem that it is difficult to “give birth to an idea”? You can sit down and come up with everything yourself.
In fact, it is not that simple. The idea runs through all the stages of creating a concept for a product or service, it is the starting point and central link in further positioning, it is the idea that determines the place in the mind of the client. To do this, you need to work with audience insights. It is important to “package” the idea correctly and vividly, to visualize it, it must be practically feasible within the budget, and also scalable so that it can be used when creating content for various communication channels: from TV and digital to printing, etc.
Creativity is teamwork that must be done by professionals using a variety of required techniques and approaches.
CEO Decision Pro
The creative concept is a step-by-step process where the elements are “born” sequentially: research and analysis – the general idea – copywriting and the slogan – visualization. Further testing and numerous improvements to hone communication.
The client thinks that he is just seeing a picture or watching a video. This is partly true, because most of the information our consciousness receives through sight. But in fact, the “chemistry” of the brain begins to work here, which from various parts assembles a single whole, like a puzzle. Slogan and visualization create an explosion of understanding!
Here are some tips to look out for when choosing an agency so you don’t blindly dive into the ocean:
- First of all, identify as accurately as possible for yourself a number of key criteria by which you will choose an agency. Thus, you can narrow your search to a minimum.
- Portfolio. You can ask the agency, read the presentation or look at the website. The fancy site is, of course, beautiful, but did you come for this? The portfolio is an honest section. There you can assess the level of the team, “try on” the work for your tasks. You should also pay attention to the activity in social networks, learn more about the life of the team and about projects.
- Service list. Printing business cards, developing creative and advertising on the radio – can one agency be able to cope with all these tasks equally well?
- Recommendations. A common case when your acquaintances, friends, or colleagues have already turned to agencies for help and can share with you feedback on the work of certain companies.
- Festival works. Are you sure your task requires a stellar budget?
- Agency size, ratings/awards wins. The huge staff in the agency and the argument “everyone knows them” is not always a guarantee of high-quality work and excellent results. Your project may well be at the end of the queue due to the large flow of customers. Conversely, in a less well-known and well-known agency, the team’s involvement in your project is more likely to be higher.
- Communication. If an agency started working on a project without clarifying the brief and without holding a briefing, then either your brief is perfect and you don’t need a creative agency at all, or questions arise about the company’s competence and professionalism. This is important because the result directly depends on how the team understood your task.
- “Chemistry”. I’m about understanding, a certain special connection between the client and the team because creativity is a collaboration in any case.
- Cost. The same job in different agencies will cost different money. There is usually a price list that shows the cost of an employee’s hourly work, and you can check the price in advance. But if you are willing to pay any money for the name and rating of the agency, then why not?
- Assessment. The initial stage of drafting and discussing the brief is important here. This document contains all the key parameters, according to which, like a checklist, you can evaluate each proposal and make your choice. If the concepts of all the participants in the competition do not suit you, then you need to think about whether the brief has been drawn up correctly and the task has been set.
- You are running a competition. Usually, agencies take part in a creative competition for free. And here is the question of business ethics and the image of the client – if a winner is not selected according to the results of the competition, then next time there may not be a single participant for your request. It is a fact. Therefore, you need to think over this moment in advance, find out the cost of the work that will be paid to the winner, agree on the amount. Or immediately outline the winner’s budget.
