As a client, how should you choose your branding agency? Advertising agency?
(or any creative agency, really)

It’s a tough decision. At the top, agencies will mostly look the same. But, on any shortlist, your candidates could seem interchangeable.

It recently occurred to me that the 4 Fs that agencies often use to evaluate prospective clients* can be flipped over client-side quite effectively:

1. Fame 🤩: As reputation is the ultimate goal, look at their work. Have they made anyone else famous? Are some of the case studies in your sector? (Include broader sectors, indirect competition and benchmarks when looking at cases. Remember that direct competition is never the full picture.) Most top agencies will tick this box easily, then ask yourself — is this the kind of work that your broadest audiences can relate to? Is it popular? Is it worth talking about and sharing? Does it sometimes win awards (more importantly, effectiveness awards)?
🚩Red flags: The work doesn’t excite you and is more box-ticking than a clear strategy and central idea. There are a few blockbusters and they are over 3 years old. They have a super hip house style but it varies little across audiences.

2. Fun 😍: Chemistry, chemistry, chemistry. It’s not just about whether you would have a drink with them. Aligned outlook and values are more important. Do you think you’ll get along with them? Enjoy it even? What’s your gut feeling? Does their process seem clear and focused? Does it align with your focus and ways of working?
🚩Red flags: Standards have slipped during the process. They have one interesting person, but the rest of the team is oddly quiet or bores you on an individual level. Everybody is from the same background.

3. Future 🤓: Do they have a compelling vision of how they’ll help you get there, and does it align with yours (or challenge you in an exciting but credible way)? How’s their strategy and trend spotting?
🚩Red flags: Fluffy language. They focus on their past rather than on your future. They are so trendy that you cringe a little (overhype is like forecasting an imaginary future).

4. Fortune 🤑: How much investment are they asking for? Short and long term. Does it leave you with enough budget to implement the damn thing? Does it align with the market, your plans and the anticipated impact (not just ROI)? Conversely, how much investment will they make in you? Compared to some of their other clients, will you be important to them long-term, or is it just this courtship fanfare?
🚩 Red Flags: They perform extreme hunger despite having plenty of bigger clients. They don’t make a clear commitment to team composition and, specifically, senior time on the project.

P.S. Bonus approach: as mentioned elsewhere, the prevalent win conditions for marketing are Integrity, Relevance and Difference. Try and think, who exhibits those qualities as well as has the strongest indicators of helping you meet them most effectively?

* In better times, at better agencies, anyway.

Some of my other thoughts:
About AI
About creative strategy
Join my mailing list to keep in touch, like, share, follow, wink, pat my head, hit that update bell on the profile, hit that perfect beat boy, dance like nobody’s watching, dance like everybody’s watching, love like you’ve never been hurt, hurt because you loved like you’ve never been hurt, have fun storming the castle, work with me.