How to choose a creative agency: what to look at, what to ask and the warning signs

Before you search: what you really need

Most agency relationships that go wrong go wrong here: nobody was clear about what the agency was being hired for. Before you open Google, write down what problem you have. There's a big difference between "nobody knows us", "they know us but see us as old" and "we have a new product and three months to launch it", and each one calls for a different kind of agency.

Also decide which part you'll leave in their hands. An agency can think up the idea, produce it or do both. Some are strategic and outsource production. Others, like us, have video and photo production in-house, so whoever comes up with the idea is on the shoot. If you're not sure how an agency and a production company differ, we explain it in creative agency or production company.

And think about time. Is it a one-off project, one campaign a year or an ongoing relationship? With a three-month campaign you can afford to experiment. If you're looking for someone to run your image for years, how you get along matters much more.

With that written down you'll have three advantages: you'll search better, you'll get proposals you can compare, and you'll avoid the most common trap, which is falling in love with spectacular work for a brand that looks nothing like yours.

How does a creative agency work on the inside? It usually has someone who understands your business, a creative direction that decides on the idea and a team that executes it. Once you're inside, what makes the difference is how close those people are to one another.

How to read their work: cases, not pieces

A nice website and a brilliant showreel don't say much. What you want to know is what happens with a real client's brief, so look at complete cases and pay attention to these things.

First, whether it tells you the starting problem. A case that only shows images tells you they know how to make images. One that explains where things started tells you they know how to think. Second, whether clients stay. An agency with several long-standing clients is an agency people can work with. Third, whether the work looks too much alike. When all the brands in a portfolio look the same, what you're buying is the agency's style, and your brand will be one more. And fourth, whether there's anything like yours: it doesn't have to be your sector, but a similar problem helps.

Here's an example from our own work to show what to look for. For Santos Studio, in Castelldefels, we created the brand starting from the name and we still make its content: more than 150 pieces. With Qilimanjaro, a quantum computing company in Barcelona, we're the exclusive audiovisual partner, with more than 15 videos that follow the company's calendar. And for Paula Valls we did her rebrand as an artist and four music videos, one of them, «És estrany», nominated for the Enderrock Awards. Three very different cases with the same pattern: it started with one job and continued because it worked.

When you read any agency's cases, including ours, ask yourself the same thing: do I understand what problem they solved? How long did the relationship last? Would that client recommend them if I called?

What to ask in the first meeting

The first meeting is for seeing how they think. If they talk about themselves the whole time, you've got your answer. A good agency asks you many questions about your business, and some even make you a little uncomfortable. These are the ones you should ask them.

Who's going to work on mine? This is the most important question. In many places the founder looks after you and then someone you've never met handles it. Ask to meet whoever will do the work.

How did you arrive at that idea? Pick a case you like and ask. If they tell you the process, the doubts, what they threw out and why, there's a method behind it. If the answer is vague, maybe they just got lucky.

What do you need from me? A good agency will tell you what information, what decisions and how much of your time it needs. If they say you won't have to do anything, be wary.

What happens if we don't like the proposal? Ask how many rounds are included and what happens if the creative direction doesn't convince you.

Who owns the materials? Agree from the start who keeps the files, the usage rights and the music or image licenses.

And how will we know whether it worked? Before starting, what to measure should be written down. It won't always be a sale. It could be recognition, retention or having material your sales team really uses.

The marketing "3-3-3 rule" also tends to come up on Google, and everyone explains it their own way. What we take from it is the underlying idea: audiences decide very fast whether something interests them, so what they see first has to make clear what it's about. Asking an agency how it handles those first seconds tells you a lot.

Warning signs

There are things that, when you see them, are worth stopping for a moment. The first is promising specific results before they know your business. Nobody can guarantee something goes viral or a sales figure, and anyone who does is selling you a wish.

The second is a generic proposal that would work for any client by changing the logo. Read the proposal with your name covered: if it still makes sense for another company in another sector, they haven't thought about you.

The third is that they never tell you no. A good agency will disagree if it thinks you're wrong, politely, but it will do it. If everything strikes them as a great idea, you'll be short of judgment just when you need it most.

The fourth is not knowing who to talk to when something happens. Ask for one contact person and a review calendar.

And the fifth is plenty of shine and no named clients. There can be reasons, such as confidentiality agreements, but without any real case with names, you have no way of checking anything.

That said, there are warning signs on your side too. Asking for three free campaigns in order to decide is a bad start, because the best agencies tend to turn down that kind of pitch. It's reasonable for them to explain how they'd approach the job, with references, but not to do the job for free. Having a committee of ten people decide with no one finally responsible doesn't help either. And a serious agency will ask about your budget, because what can be done depends on it: saying it early saves everyone time.

How much does a creative agency charge? What it depends on

Google asks this a lot, and we'll answer without figures: we don't publish prices on the website, because the same word, "campaign", can mean very different things. We can tell you what it depends on, so that you can compare with judgment.

First, scope: an idea and its script isn't the same as a campaign with several shoots, photography, adaptations for each platform and original music. Second, production: shoot days, crew size, locations, actors and post-production. Third, rights: music, models' image, and for how long and where everything will be used. And fourth, the working model: a one-off project or a monthly relationship, where planning is better and shoots get more use.

To compare two proposals, ask for them to be broken down the same way. Sometimes one seems more expensive because it includes what the other will charge you for later. Check how many pieces are included, in what formats, how many rounds of changes and who pays for the music.

If you have a limited budget, say so as soon as you can. A good agency will tell you what can be done with it and what it would leave for another phase. Starting with something small is the most honest way to test: one piece, one session or a short campaign, and if it works it grows.

If you want to understand how the work gets organized once you've said yes, it's in what a campaign with a creative agency looks like. And if you need to prepare the brief, what a creative brief is tells you what goes in it.

How we work at Bostak and how to get started

We've given you a list to evaluate any agency. Now apply it to us, which is only fair.

Who works on yours: Albert Murillo, founder and creative director of Bostak Films, runs the creative side, and he came to it from shooting, directing short films and music videos. Working with him is a team that shoots, edits and designs in-house, based in Viladecans with remote editors. Whoever comes up with the idea is close to whoever shoots it, and that shows in the result.

What we know how to do: campaigns such as the three La Bunker spots on the streets of Barcelona, the image and Glovo campaign for Dr. Pizza, or the visual universe of Aires de Grandeza, with original music. And also product, such as the Bunker bum bag we designed from scratch, or a whole Christmas made with AI.

And if we're not a fit, we'll tell you. There are projects where another agency will be a better option, and we'd rather say so than sell you something that won't work for you.

We work mainly with brands from Barcelona and the Baix Llobregat, and also with brands from other countries. See how we approach it on our creative agency in Barcelona page. And if you want to see how we'd think about your case, book a free diagnosis. On a video call you tell us what you need, we ask you the uncomfortable questions and we tell you what we'd do first. No strings attached: with that you can already compare with others.

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