Editor’s note: Lucy Davison is managing director at Keen as Mustard, a London marketing agency. She can be reached at lucy@mustardmarketing.com.
In 15 years working in the research industry, it consistently amazes me how little researchers understand or value marketing communications and design professionals. If the wiring goes out in the office, you call an electrician. You need a contract sorted out, you call a lawyer. You need a new Web site that will help you stand out and drive your business forward – what the heck? – you design and build it yourself. After all, you’ve got people who know how to write code. How hard can it be?
From PowerPoint presentations to printed materials and promotional videos, the researcher’s approach is to go it alone, save money and DIY.
But in my experience, good design means good business. A coherent, well-thought-out and professionally executed design strategy can achieve excellent value and ROI. In a crowded marketplace, getting the right messages to the right people in the right way is essential – there is no room for one-hit wonders.
A lack of understanding
The go-it-alone approach mostly springs from a fear of spending any money on something that could technically be done in-house but, more importantly, it reflects a lack of understanding of the value of good design and communication. Research agency Web sites are notorious for clashing colors, excessive copy and confusing layouts. Researchers are some of the worst offenders when it comes to replacing true design with buying a logo off the Internet or jazzing up their materials with some clip art.
This is not doing us any favors as an industry. In an increasingly visual age, people expect things to be clear and intuitive – not unprofessional, unimaginative and outdated.
Enough already! Here are some things that researchers can do to use design well and present a professional, original image.
Set a budget
The most efficient way of getting any new piece of design work is to set aside an amount to spend on it. Then if you ask agencies for proposals, you can tell them what your budget is. If your budget is too tiny, the agencies will say so and no one will waste time and energy on an unrealistic project.
A Web designer I know recently received a call from a client. They had found an automated online service that would allow them to create a Web site for $135. The call was to ask my friend if he could do it for less! Be realistic. Of course you can outsource design to India and pay less than minimum wage but the result likely will not be what you want.
A Web or design agency will prepare a time-based proposal but their rates are based on experience. Rates vary from $200 a day for a relatively inexperienced freelancer to $200 an hour for a bigger agency. If you have no clue how much things cost, ask around. There should be no embarrassment discussing professional rates for work; if you see a Web site you like, find out how much it cost – you can always ask the agency who designed it to tell you.
Finally, the proposal should be focused on how to solve your problem, not how to do it cheapest. You are not buying a commodity but creative thinking; going for the cheapest option is often shortsighted.
Establish a relationship with an agency
Unless you have a really big budget (i.e., six figures), you should never use an agency that provides free creative design work to impress you and win your project. An agency that shows you what your logo or Web site will look like without being briefed and being paid for the work will not be professional or able to deliver the right strategic solution because they have guessed at your issues or tweaked a design they did for another company. It shows a one-size-fits-all approach to your problem and to design. A decent agency will only do creative work after having been commissioned.
Don’t go ahead with a relationship with any creative agency (whether that’s design, Web, PR or advertising) without meeting them and seeing their work for other, similar clients. If you really cannot spare the time to meet them before asking for a proposal, you cannot spare the time to do the project. They should be able to give you logical and strategic arguments for why a piece of work in their portfolio is the way it is. It should not come down to because they like a particular color or thought it looked nice. Above all, choose a team that can demonstrate they really understand research and how to bring it to life.
We recommend you establish an ongoing relationship with an agency and work with them regularly. Then they will be quick and qualified to respond when you have an urgent request.
Use a brief (and make it brief!)
We all get briefs all the time and most of them are not brief! Research briefs tend to be 20+ pages of bullet points. This is really not necessary. You should articulate your objectives, the core communication messages, deadlines, budget and give the essential information about your company and brand. Be focused and unambiguous and – above all – try to prioritize and be clear about your core message. I have had lots of briefs with very nebulous company values (e.g., “we deliver,” “our people,” “creativity,” etc.) so use these to communicate how you behave. For example, “We deliver” becomes “We always ensure we give our clients something extra.” This can give a designer a nugget of an idea that can turn into a great piece of creative work.
Let the designers design
Although it’s helpful to give a designer parameters for a project (including examples you think are good or technical parameters and limitations), it is not helpful to tell a creative what the final solution should be. Having a good brief will help but it’s hard to be creative if someone is telling you to use Photo A in Position B with Drop Shadow C and Font D. Let them come up with the solution based on your brief. They don’t have to do this in total isolation and should share ideas as they implement them but don’t tell them what things should look like. That’s their job. Use their skills!
A long-term relationship
Using a professional who has studied their craft and who has applied their skills over years always improves the quality of what you get. Good design and good business are in a long-term relationship and it’s one the research industry would do well to cultivate.