Marketing agencies? Graphic design studios? Other?
- Most marketing agencies offer graphic design services. Most graphic design studios don’t offer marketing support.
- Marketing agencies offer more support services outside of creative.
- There is more overlap in the branding and creative strategy support graphic design studios offer.
- Quality of collaboration is important regardless of service offer.
I’ve worked in both and often found there is a real overlap between design businesses and marketing agencies when it comes to what a client needs. For those that want a broad, easy answer:
If you only need the deliverables (posters, magazines, logo and visual identity design, branding), then graphic design studios should be your first point of call. But if you need a single business that will produce these, plan channels, distribute, and report back, then an agency may be a better bet.
Disclaimer: That’s my view of it, and doesn’t speak for everyone. There are many grey areas and overlaps, but some people love a generalisation, so there’s one for you.
It also doesn’t cover businesses that work on the constellation model, for example a graphic design agency that pulls in the skills of a web developer.
For those looking for more detail: read on and I’ll break down a few more detailed scenarios…
It’s all in the delivery.
If you have your own marketing channels or have booked your own advertising space, then start looking at graphic design studios. They will be able to get you the artwork you need to fill those channels.
More often than not they will be happy to speak to any production partners for artwork specifications, or make recommendations on production methods, printers, or materials.
If you need a more 360º approach to the campaign / activity, it might be that a marketing agency like Big Wave in Exeter is a better fit. They will be able to book media space, manage production and distribution and – more often than not – report and offer insights after the work is done.
Strategy or Tactics?
Sounds like a bigger question than “do I need marketing agencies or graphic design studios?” doesn’t it. It’s important to understand though.
- Strategy is the bigger brand picture of audience demographics, channel selection, advertising creative, and campaign timelines.
- Tactics are the parts that deliver the goals of the strategy on the ground.
This is where we head into a grey area. Brand strategy in the sense of big picture, primary research, campaign management is very much the remit of the marketing agency (in my opinion).
There is considerable overlap between agencies and graphic design studios when we move into spaces such as advertising creative, visual identity strategy, communications strategy, web design. In the case of DC Design Works, much of the design work is informed by marketing sensibilities, and there is scope to offer feedback and direction in the marketing space.
(Now you can see why I put us in the overlapping part of the Venn diagram).
Then there’s web design.
There should almost be a third section to the Venn diagram. Web design agencies like Illicit fit into both marketing and graphic design areas. They will design and build a website, and offer support services for the website if it’s a key sales channel for your business.
Web is such a large space that you could almost call web design agencies marketing agencies. As well as launch, hosting, reporting, they generally will offer graphic design support as well around brand and communications.
If you need a new website I’d recommend going to a web design studio. It’s an such an important part of any business and while some graphic design studios and marketing agencies do offer web design services it’s best to go to a businesses that specialises in it.
As it is their bread and butter, specialist agencies like Studio Cotton in Bristol have a constant connection with how web is changing, and how that can be maximised by design. Where a graphic designer may focus on the look and usability of a website, a web design studio will have the best understanding of how these decisions impact search engine optimisation and how they appear on different hardware and web browsers.
Leave room for surprise.
Hopefully this has been a useful breakdown with some good recommendations thrown in. A final word to add is that this so far we have focussed on services rather than personal fit.
A company can offer all the services you need, but if their collaboration style doesn’t sit well, or their approach doesn’t suit your brand or its values, it may be best to look elsewhere.
Never discount the personal chemistry of a team on a project. In my opinion it’s best to include a wildcard on your shortlist and leave room for surprise.
If you need a shortlist of five companies for a marketing and brand refresh campaign perhaps go with three marketing agencies and two graphic design studios. Or vice-versa on something that feels more like a design project.
It’s good to know where to look, but always leave room to find a perfect project champion somewhere you didn’t expect.
