Hiring an Agency
Hello, and welcome to Busyness Time with me, Krystian.
Today, I wanted to talk about How to tackle a creative project, the different ways of doing things and the advantages and disadvantages of using a creative agency.
Disclaimer - as someone who runs a creative agency, it's obviously in my best interest for you to want to hire an agency like mine.
But regardless of who you use, there are a few advantages and disadvantages of using an agency or third party like a graphic designer than doing it yourself.
Pros and cons to doing it yourself:
Doing it yourself is cheaper.
There are better tools than ever to help you do it yourself.
You can make anything you want.
The problems of doing things yourself:
You might not feel you are particularly "creative."
You have to invest your time to get this done. If you have a growing business, that time can be hard to find.
Your work may not be consistent, meaning your logos and colours may not be marked accurately, and you can have a different font or colour on each platform or brochure; this is generally fine, but if you're selling something premium or want to represent yourself nicely. Consistency goes a long way.
Using an agency
It will be more expensive.
It will be a risk - maybe you don't like the work.
A third-party guide can be powerful - someone specialising in branding or design.
Because the hardest thing to do is work on your own project. You're too critical. You're too close to it. You don't see objectively. The most significant value a third party brings is a fresh perspective or acknowledgment that what you had in mind is on the right track. The value is finding someone who will push back - and not in a fake way that's just doing it to be facetious.
You can get more done - at Storytime, for example, we produce all sorts of branding and branded content, which is a bit different than going to a single contractor to do the work. We'll find whoever is needed, getting the right combo of people in the room and getting you the best result.
Think of it like this: How do you renovate a house or a room of a house?
Option 1 - DIY
You can absolutely renovate a house yourself. Go to Bunnings, get some wood, paint, and a hammer. Get on with it. You can do it. In branding, this is the DIY version of things. Jump on Canva and do it yourself.
Option 2 - Self Managed
You hire a painter, a plumber, and a tiler. Tell each of them what you want. And manage the project yourself.
In marketing terms, this is hiring an ad agency, a strategist, a graphic designer, and a videographer and wrangling all of them to do something.
Option 3 - Agency/Builder
This is the version that sees you hire an agency to be your project manager or builder.
They look after the whole process for you.
They find you the right people to do the job.
They manage you as a client.
They deliver you a completed renovation.
Everyone gets paid. Everyone is happy.
This master 'builder' version is the most similar - analogically - to the agency model. You hire someone to do a bunch of stuff for you.
The same goes for a content creation partner, an ad agency, or an SEO specialist. In each case, someone is looking after all the sub-components for you.
Summary
In my experience, when starting an idea and trying to get traction. The DIY approach is excellent. Nothing wrong with it. Why spend twenty grand on branding when you can do it for a fraction of that and spend the money on supplies and warehouse space?
It's helpful to think about it in three levels.
Level 1: DIY
Level 2: Once you've gotten past the DIY stage, you're levelling up and busy because you've found that match between what you're selling and what the market wants. Then spending on branding and your Brand Strategy and Identity makes a lot more sense.
Level 3: The third and highest level is when you're so big you might have variations of your brand that need to be managed and bespoke campaigns that tune and adapt your brand to a given project and desired outcome.
Disclaimer
It should be said that spending lots of money on branding and logos does not mean you magically have a good idea and a solid business that operates well.
You can't put lipstick on a pig and think everything will be amazing. You have to do the work to get the delivery right.
Remember: Branding is the Beginning, and Marketing makes the Promise.
But your team, your product, your customer experience. Those are the delivery of that promise, and if the two are very far apart - your branding is great, but your product isn't. Branding won't save you.
Big companies got big because they deliver a great product to many people.
Go out and have fun with it. If you need a hand, send us a message.