An Imperfect Process
There are steps a company takes when looking for an agency or studio to help develop and build their brand. It involves sitting down with someone from each respective studio and getting a feel for what they represent, analyzing the type of work they do, and figuring out what they’d be like to work with in general. Then, after deliberation of sorts, a decision is made. It seems like there should be another step in there, called follow up.
Potential clients have several different discussions with several different people with several different areas of expertise, after which there are, understandably, questions. We say give it another go-around. Follow up with the agencies/studios you’re interested in and see how they feel about your questions. While one studio might talk a lot about about SEO, or Social Media, another might not. Is that important to you? What does another studio think? You can never be sure unless you ask. Think about it. If you’re interviewing for a job, you don’t expect to be hired after just one interview, right? It takes at least a follow-up conversation to tie up loose ends and confirm a few things.
Send an e-mail, make a phone call, or set up another meeting. If the agency/studio doesn’t jive with your thought process, you’ll spend more time defending your ideals and values than you will collaborating on great projects.