Every client and every agency has a personal style, usually influenced by the organizational culture or the personality behind. If you are thinking of changing your creative agency, here are some cultural and attitudinal considerations that could help. First, find out which client style you think describes you best. Then, check out the kind of agency you should look for.
1. You are the Precise Penguin.
You mean business. You don’t like unexpected and unplanned for surprises, and expect everything to work to a plan. You’re not impressed if the agency does not have a logic to the campaign or concepts they present. You like things to be laid out in advance, have conversations documented and work flows to follow a process. You like visible impact based on data.
You definitely need to pick out an agency that is first off - reliable. Check with their references - do they have a track record of delivering on time? Ask the agency about a typical day at the office - do they start with a huddle to plan their day? What time do they start and when do they finish? Are there specific times for breaks? How many clients do they have currently and how to they balance their time? What are their internal processes from assignment to delivery of a job?
2. You are the Creative Cockatoo
You have plenty of exciting projects and ideas on your mind - all the time! That makes you want to be everywhere at once. You are really invested in your company and want the best for it. You are constantly brainstorming, imaginative and creative. What you need is a partner who can help you organize, structure and deliver on your ideas before they fizzle out.
Your ideal partner is an agency that’s organized and collaborative. They are diligent with time management and willing to collaborate with you on the design process. The people at the agency are in touch with current trends, know a lot and offer diverse perspectives. They can challenge you on different fronts and always bring fresh ideas to the table. Always at the end, they always solve the problem without losing their way in the creative process towards the solution.
You are the Officious Owl
You are objective driven. You don’t necessarily accept anyone’s claims on skill or success unless you’ve actually seen or experienced that for yourself. You force people to know their *hit and that can make some people quite uncomfortable. You are looking for an expert who has more knowledge than you - otherwise, you’d have done it yourself.
You need an agency that presents no BS. Straight to the point - tells you what is the problem that needs to be solved, what’s the solution, how the solution can be deployed and how impact can be measured. All this is only possible because experience, and expertise gained working across diverse industries.
You are the Enabling Elephant
You love working with people, especially the creative, agency types. You empathize with them immensely and are always looking to work like a partner, not a client. You value loyalty and trust your agency implicitly.
Your partner is an agency that listens, thinks long term and is loyal. They have to be able to visualize and integrate long-term, positive impact thinking for your challenges. To get some indicators on the agency’s commitment to trust and loyalty, ask two questions. One, on an average, how many years have their employees worked at the agency for? And second, what is an average duration for a contract with a retainer client?
Sure, it’s likely you don’t fit any of the above accurately. But it really helps if your agency has the people and a culture that is aligned with your personal or corporate style. Having worked with penguins, cockatoos, owls and elephants over 13 years, we at brandform pride ourselves on being reliable, collaborative, creative and knowledgeable. That’s what our clients say - read more here.