Have you ever found yourself in an impromptu sidewalk dance with someone where you step left, they step left, you go right, they go right? There’s an annoying awkwardness as these steps repeat and nobody can move forward… until one of you gets completely out of the way and pauses to let the other pass.
So often, this is the bane of the brand-agency dynamic. You’ve hired a creative agency to produce an effective video for your brand, but the entire process has been one of those sidewalk dances… only instead of nervous giggles, you’re just wasting time and money.
In the 15 years I’ve spent solving problems with video, I’ve seen it happen more than once, and I know what has to be done to establish relationships that let the work – and excellence – flow smoothly. After all, most brands are looking for a truly creative problem-solving team, not a scenario where you’re merely telling us what buttons to push and pixels to nudge. Getting there starts with staying in your own lane (so we don’t crash!) and learning to trust the process. Here are the seven things I wish my brand friends knew:
- Respect your creative agency’s expertise and we’ll respect yours. You are not a video expert. You are the expert of your brand, your product and your customers. And that’s exactly how we want it! You know you’re ready for video, but relax: a good video agency doesn’t need a script or boards. In fact, bringing your business goals, your KPIs and your target audience is enough to let us get started.
- Front-load the process. You’re excited to see images on a screen—and we’re excited to create them. But in order to do our best work together, we need to take our time at the beginning of a project to craft a plan, sharpen our axes, and iterate on the concept for the project. I promise we’ll save time if you let us dive deep up front. We want to understand the whole story, the issues, the parts that are hard to explain and the business goals that your boss and boss’s boss are always on about.
- Let us be curious! A great video partner is going to be curious and you should engage that curiosity. Have the patience to teach us. When you teach, you end up understanding your brand and product further, and that's a win-win. The more we can gain understanding of your business, the better we’ll be able to explain it visually using the tools in our video toolbelt.
- Tell us what you want in your words. Tone words like “playful,” “warm,” “friendly” and “calming” translate in so many different ways, but when we combine your brand guide with an approach that offers that tone, we'll come up with the right video solution that conveys those feelings on screen. Give direction like a film director. Focus on emotion and performance, and we’ll translate that to design and animation changes.
- Trust the process. Don’t rush the boards. Don’t skip the animatic. Don’t worry! And, if you’re worried, let’s meet. Conversation is the best way to work out creative kinks and misunderstandings, and we’ll get to the bottom of your concerns. Then, we’ll continue with the process that works. It works, it has worked, and it will work.
- See the value in failing fast. If you can't imagine it, we need to do our job better and get it on the screen. We do that through mood boards, style frames and animation tests. If you still can't "see it" then say so! When storyboards and animatics get approved, we move on to further phases, and we use up the proposed scope. When we have to go back a step, it eats into that scope. Ultimately, we're looking for concept buy-in in those early phases: are we telling the story the right way and getting your points across? If it's not there yet, say so as soon as possible. A good partner will help you navigate the full production pipeline and manage your expectations for each step as a project takes shape.
- Help us help you take it to market. You know how you want to affect the market, and you know how they respond. Once you’re ready to get your project out there, your video partner should be ready to create the cut-downs and additional deliverables to maximize your investment across different platforms and formats. Communicate your goals and a good video partner will help get the creative to fit into your time constraints.
If you've followed these best practices and your video agency still isn't coming up with creative visual solutions that work, it might be time to give them the boot and find someone else... unless, of course, you have a LOT of extra time and money for unnecessary sidewalk dancing.
Shawna Schultz is the co-founder of Denver-based Mass FX Media, the motion and animation shop behind Netflix original documentary The Social Dilemma, Hulu's The Jewel Thief and numerous other projects for networks and notable brands.
