Digital production agencies: Bridging the gap between creativity and execution

In the dynamic landscape of marketing and advertising, creative agencies play a pivotal role in conjuring ideas and strategies that captivate their clients’ audiences. However, while their ideation is exceptional, the execution sometimes reveals challenges. 

Let’s dive deeper into these hurdles, starting with some inherent limitations.

Why creative agencies need digital production agencies

A creative agency can be involved in multiple stages of a campaign, from conception to execution. However, there are certain limitations that may prevent them from getting involved in any production stage of their campaigns. Some of these limitations include:

1. Expertise: Creative agencies generally specialize in areas like idea generation, concept development, design, content creation, and digital marketing strategies. They might lack the in-depth expertise required in more specialized or technical areas such as video production, animation, web development, or certain forms of digital marketing like SEM.
2. Budget: Producing high-quality materials or managing large-scale campaigns often requires significant resources. Depending on the budget of a project, an agency may not be able to handle all aspects of production. Outsourcing to other companies or freelancers may prove more cost-effective in some cases.
3. Time: High-quality production takes time, and an agency working on multiple projects may not be able to devote the necessary time to each phase of a campaign. In such cases, it may be more efficient to outsource production to another company.
4. Regulations and technical specifications: Certain industries are heavily regulated and require a deep understanding of industry-specific rules. If an agency is not familiar with these rules, they may need to partner with a specialist digital production agency.
5. Scale: If a campaign needs to be executed at a large scale or across multiple markets, the agency may lack the capacity or the global presence to handle the distribution and localization needs effectively.
6. Quality Control: In some cases, agencies may choose to outsource execution to ensure high-quality outcomes. While an agency may be able to handle the execution, a digital production company might deliver better quality results due to their specialized expertise

For these reasons, while a creative agency might come up with the concepts, strategy, and design, the actual production and execution might be handled by production agencies or other specialist service providers.

The web development enigma: in-house or outsourced?

With their vast project spectrum, why don’t creative agencies maintain dedicated web development teams?  While some of them do have in-house web development and coding capabilities, many do not for a variety of reasons:

1. Specialization: Creative agencies often focus on areas such as branding, graphic design, copywriting, and strategic marketing, which do not inherently require coding or web development skills. These agencies might choose to specialize in their core competencies and outsource tasks that require different expertise.
2. Cost efficiency: Web development can be quite complex and requires specialized knowledge and skills. Hiring full-time in-house developers can be expensive, particularly if their services aren’t continuously needed. Outsourcing web development allows agencies to pay for these services only when necessary.
3. Rapid technological changes: The field of web development is constantly evolving with new languages, frameworks, and technologies emerging regularly. It can be challenging for an agency to keep up with these changes and provide continuous training and updates to their staff.
4. Project-specific requirements: The specific requirements for web development can vary widely between projects. Some might need a simple website, while others might require complex e-commerce platforms, interactive websites, or web applications. Having an in-house team that can cover all these needs can be difficult.
5. Quality and expertise: Specialist web development companies or freelancers usually have a wider range of experience and may provide a higher level of quality and innovation compared to an in-house team that doesn’t specialize in this area.
6. Time and Resources: Training and maintaining an in-house web development team requires significant time and resources. Creative agencies may choose to invest these resources into their core services instead.

In sum, while there can be benefits to having in-house web development capabilities, many agencies find that the flexibility, cost efficiency, and access to specialized skills provided by outsourcing make it a better option.

What are the benefits for a creative agency to outsource the execution of its campaign?

Outsourcing the execution of a campaign can offer several benefits to a creative agency:

1. Focus on core competencies: Outsourcing allows creative agencies to focus on what they do best – generating ideas, crafting messages, and designing campaign strategies. It helps them allocate more time and resources to their core competencies, enhancing the overall quality of their work.
2. Access to specialized skills: Production companies, freelancers, or other specialist service providers often have unique skills and experiences that the agency might lack. By outsourcing, the agency can leverage these skills to ensure the best execution possible for their campaigns.
3. Cost-effectiveness: As seen, outsourcing can often be more cost-effective, especially when certain equipment or expertise is only needed on a project-by-project basis.
4. Scalability: When there is an influx of work, or the scale of a particular project is larger than what the agency can handle, outsourcing enables the agency to easily scale up its operations.
5. Risk management: Outsourcing can distribute the risks associated with campaign execution. If something goes wrong during the production stage, the responsibility can be shared with the outsourcing partner.
6. Faster turnaround time: Specialist vendors or partners can often execute tasks faster due to their specific focus and experience in certain areas. This can lead to quicker campaign rollouts.
7. Innovation and creativity: Outsourcing partners may bring new perspectives, technologies, and creative approaches that an agency might not have considered, contributing to the overall effectiveness and innovation of the campaign.

Therefore, while there are challenges associated with outsourcing, the benefits can often make it a worthwhile approach for creative agencies.

Focus on the cost-effectiveness of outsourcing

It should now be clear that, while having in-house web development and coding capabilities can offer certain advantages, there are several reasons why outsourcing the execution of their creative ideas might be more convenient and cost-effective for creative agencies:

1. Personnel cost: Hiring full-time, experienced developers can be expensive. The cost includes not just their salaries, but also benefits, taxes, equipment, office space, training, and more. By outsourcing, an agency only pays for what they need on a per-project basis, which can be more cost-effective.
2. Flexibility: The needs for web development can vary greatly from one project to the next. By outsourcing, agencies can tailor the scope of work to the specific needs of each project, rather than maintaining a full-time team that might be overqualified for some projects and underqualified for others.
3. Scaling up and down: With outsourcing, it’s easier to scale up or down based on workload. If an agency suddenly has a high demand for web development, it can bring on more contractors. If demand drops, they can reduce their outsourced help without having to go through layoffs.
4. Keeping up with technology: Technology, especially in areas like web development, changes rapidly. Outsourcing allows agencies to tap into a pool of professionals who are up to date with the latest trends, tools, and technologies, without having to continuously train an in-house team.
5. Reduced management: By outsourcing, agencies can free up management time that would otherwise be spent overseeing an in-house team. This allows them to focus more on their core operations and strengths.

While there are many benefits to outsourcing web development and coding, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Some agencies might find that an in-house team better suits their needs, depending on factors such as the volume and consistency of work, the specific requirements of their projects, and their overall business model and strategy.

The most outsourced digital production projects

There are several types of digital production projects that creative agencies commonly outsource to digital production agencies. These can include:

1. Website development and design: This involves building and designing websites, which requires specialized knowledge in various coding languages, user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, and sometimes backend development for more complex websites.
2. E-Commerce development: Building e-commerce platforms is a complex process that involves creating a user-friendly interface, integrating payment systems, ensuring security measures, and more.
3. Video production and editing: This includes a range of services, from creating social media and web videos to editing the clips by adding special effects and animations. High-quality video production often requires equipment and experienced personnel.
4. 3D modeling and animation: These specialized skills are commonly used in video game development, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences, and sometimes in advertising campaigns.
5. Social media content creation: This can involve creating videos, graphics, and other types of content for various social media platforms.
6. Interactive content production: This includes the creation of interactive web experiences, interactive display ads, and playable digital out-of-home, and in-app ads.
   
7. Email marketing campaigns: While creating the content for emails might be done in-house, the technical aspects of designing the emails, ensuring they display properly on all devices, managing email lists, and sending out the emails might be outsourced.

In each of these cases, outsourcing allows creative agencies to take advantage of the digital production agency’s specialized skills, equipment, and experience, while the creative agency focuses on strategy, content, and overall campaign management.

Conclusion: Fill the gap between creativity and execution.

In the dance of creativity and execution, AGCS serves as a perfect partner, bridging gaps with unmatched expertise.

As we stand ready to aid brands and agencies, we merge creativity with cutting-edge tech, ensuring dreams meet reality. Join hands with our digital production agency, and find the missing piece to your campaign puzzle.