We’re asking a big question!
“Why is our most valuable commodity – our ideas – expected to be provided free of charge?”
We visited this back in 2017 and we want to bring it back to the top of everyone’s mind. We spoke with fellow creatives in Manchester, it’s apparent that this is very much a BIG issue in our industry where our ideas are presented free of charge, but always run the risk of then being taken and produced with other providers.
We are not alone in this and one business owner claimed this happened to them 4 times in a single year.
In the creative sector, we are expected to invest significant time working on moodboards, website mock-ups, storyboards, focus group research and target audience analysis, before any money has changed hands – why?
Even with an impressive portfolio of high-profile client productions, it appears that some clients still won’t trust that you’ll do a cracking job for them too, without you presenting your ideas prior to them commissioning the work.
Proposals are complex, intricate and aren’t always easy to understand or visualise before seeing some creative work first. Therefore not knowing what your budget is getting you, almost feels like ‘paying blind’ but how do we communicate that previous work should provide that trust to them?
Why buy anything from somewhere before seeing something first? before ‘trusting’ them – a strong brand, their eco-credentials, tone of voice, the people?
Where is the missing link and how do we address it? It comes down to trust. We trust that in a cafe your Flat White will be a good Flat White – we certainly aren’t allowed to try one first before buying the next one.
One apparent solution, that has been discussed with peers, is to ask new potential clients, whom we hope to build a strong and long-lasting relationship with, to sign an NDA form. This means we are starting the relationship on a potential negative and positioning ourselves by saying “we don’t trust you”.
One creative agency we discussed this with has a very strong stance on the matter – “we don’t pitch for work”, they build a relationship first and then take it from there. An interesting take on the situation, which they said has been very successful. In the creative sector this is seen as a high risk strategy, but it seems they have been successful with this approach.
So how do we address the issue around our most valuable commodity, our ideas?
As a client, what would it take to trust a service like video production or any other creative industry business to buy before you receive a creative proposal?