How does pricing work with a creative agency?
Agency pricing is driven by four things: the scope of the deliverable, the research it needs, the number of channels, and production — which is always quoted separately from the creative work. Understand the model you're buying and the invoice stops being a mystery.
THE FOUR COOPERATION MODELS
- Project basis — a fixed price per defined project; the default for a first collaboration
- Workload-based support — a monthly subscription with an agreed volume of work; for a steady task flow
- Full service — an integrated communication partner across strategy and tactics; long-term partnership economics
- Results compensation — work at cost, with the agency's profit tied to campaign results and KPIs; for high-trust setups with shared media control
WHAT KEEPS A BUDGET HONEST
Ask any agency four questions before signing. What exactly is in scope, and what is explicitly out? How many revision rounds are included (two is a healthy industry norm), and what does the next one cost? Is production inside the quote or estimated after materials are approved (it should be after — anything else is a guess)? And what happens when the brief changes mid-flight — at Bickerstaff, that's a written change order, not a silent margin squeeze or a surprise invoice.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Why don't agencies publish fixed price lists?
Because two 'brand identities' can differ tenfold in scope — markets, carriers, research depth. Serious agencies price the defined scope, then protect it with change orders.
How does Bickerstaff charge?
By project scope, in one of the four models above. Durations are public — a brand strategy runs 1.5–2.5 months, identity 2–3 months, an integrated campaign 1.5–2.5 months — and scope is fixed in writing before work starts. Write to newbusiness@bickerstaff.ooo for a quote.
IN SHORT
In short: agency price = scope + research + channels, with production quoted separately. Choose between project, subscription, full-service or results-linked models, insist on written scope and change orders — and any honest agency, ours included, will feel predictable.
