Designing creative agency-client relationships

Abstract

The relationship between creative agencies and their clients is a difficult one to manage. For clients, the methodologies and processes applied by creative agencies often lack sufficient transparency; so much so that working together needs to be subject to a carefully thought-out process. While agencies recognize the importance of such transparency, the implementation of said transparency remains a difficult characteristic to master.

In order to address this gap, the work performed in this project puts forward a strategy to approach both creative agencies’ client relations and their work in such a way that lasting relationships can be built together with clients for optimal growth and building towards an agreed vision.

To develop this approach, the literature on Service Design was first reviewed followed by that on leadership and creative agency-client relationships: the first because it is the specialization at the Service Design agency Unplugged; and the second because to be an agent of change the creative must lead the way. The derived insights brought to light different typologies of clients, relationships and scopes. From this foundation, three impact levels were identified, namely: organizational transformation, organizational process and organizational service.

Conducting interviews at Unplugged, with its leadership and creatives and clients generated data and insights on the situation or problem space as it exists for the agency. The combination of the problem space and the knowledge gathered from the literature and the discussions with experts enabled the creation of a strategy playbook. The playbook is built around six principles for the day-to-day practice of and development of thriving client relationships. In order for the creatives to live by these, question cards were developed which correlate with the six principles to give creatives a reference point throughout their projects. Furthermore, to measure progress and maintain focus on project goals, two impact portfolio graphs are included. Finally, to ensure integration of the strategy playbook, a workshop has been designed for defining the purpose of the client interaction and applying the principles and tools by using them through fictitious scenarios.