5 steps to choosing the right creative firm

The guys at Pulp Brand­ing pub­lish a great comic strip on brand­ing. The cur­rent issue speaks to choos­ing the right firm for your cre­ative needs. I think they hit on a great set of points to remember. 

1. Meet with firms that interests you

While port­fo­lios and mar­ket­ing brochures are impor­tant, they do not give the whole pic­ture. They speak only to the capa­bil­i­ties, but don’t say any­thing about how they treat people or whether they will listen to what you have to say.

2. Insist on meeting the creative team

The sales and exec­u­tive teams are great facil­i­ta­tors of the sales process, but it will be the cre­ative team that will be respon­si­ble for devel­op­ing your work. The same rules apply from #1 above. You are attempt­ing to deter­mine the char­ac­ter and cul­ture of the actual team that will be work­ing with you.

3. Request and call their client references

This will help you see how well they do what they say they are going to do and any other chal­lenges that could arise. See what past clients have to say about their work.

4. Have the creative team explain their thoughts on a past project

This gives you insight on whether the team cre­ates pretty pic­tures or cre­ates pretty pic­tures that have mean­ing and rel­e­vance to the brands they rep­re­sent. The ATT globe is a great logo, but not for Baskin & Rob­bins. The globe means some­thing to what ATT stands for as a com­pany. Make sure the cre­ative team under­stands that.

5. Have the team explain past failures and how they got back on track

No project is com­pletely with­out trou­ble. It’s the firm that can iden­tify these chal­lenges and adjust both their own and client expec­ta­tions that shows the signs of a great firm. How did they react when things went wrong? What steps got them back on sched­ule? How well did they keep the client informed?

Pulp Brand­ing had some great thoughts. What else do you think clients should ask poten­tial firms before hiring them?