A creative agency works as an extension of your team, providing the guidance and support your brand needs to grow and succeed. How you share the workload in this creative partnership depends on the project, your high-level goals and your internal resources. Sometimes our clients look to Idea Kraft to steer their entire strategy, and sometimes they simply need us to supplement their content creation.
Your creative agency can help in whatever capacity necessary, so long as you are able to communicate what you need from the partnership. We’ve taken the stress out of it by creating a handy guide to help you narrow down what, exactly, you’re looking for in a creative agency. Are you embarking on a major project like a rebrand, or are you just looking for a fresh perspective? Either way, we’ll help you figure it out so you can express your needs, split the workload effectively and get a higher ROI out of your creative partnership.
The equal partner.
You and your creative agency split the workload pretty evenly. It’s the most collaborative approach, where both sides participate in gathering research, strategizing and brainstorming.
This dynamic is the perfect fit if…
You have a well-defined brand system, but need a fresh perspective. When you’re immersed in your own brand all day, every day, it’s all-too-easy to get stuck in a creative rut. A creative agency can provide the much-needed-perspective and latest industry trends needed to improve your strategy and come up with fresh ideas.
This dynamic isn’t the right fit if…
You don’t have the manpower or skills to contribute 50% of the work. (If this sounds like you, keep reading! The remaining options will better fit your needs.)
The captain.
In this dynamic, you rely on your creative agency to guide you through the creative process from start to finish. You might need a new strategy or a major rebranding. These are projects that, while collaborative, require the agency to take the lead.
This dynamic is the perfect fit if…
You don’t have a dedicated marketing team or well-defined brand system. In addition to creative production, an agency can provide invaluable marketing insight into what works, what doesn’t and what surprising tweaks can drastically improve ROI.
This dynamic isn’t the right fit if…
You need help properly executing an existing strategy. If you simply need extra manpower, keep reading.
The assist.
Your agency takes on a supporting role, helping you execute or iterate an established strategy. This is most common when outsourcing parts of your content creation to an agency.
This dynamic is the perfect fit if…
You already have a well-researched and vetted strategy, you just don’t have the bandwidth or skills to expertly execute your vision. Many brands struggle to realize their strategies simply because they don’t have the infrastructure or resources available in-house to handle production. Without tried-and-tested skills and processes in place, you can end up wasting time (and money!) creating content that doesn’t align with your strategy or resonate with your audience. Plus, bringing on a new full-time team member to handle production can end up being more expensive than hiring an agency. Conversely, creative agencies are well-oiled machines that have the knowledge and resources to handle a high volume of creative production quickly and efficiently.
This dynamic isn’t the right fit if…
You need something done ASAP (like, tomorrow). At the onset of any creative partnership, your agency will need to spend time familiarizing themselves with your brand and objectives before they can tackle the work itself. If you require a quick turnaround time, they can’t always accommodate you.
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