What Is a Full-Service Creative Agency?

The services they provide will depend on the agency’s specialisms, and they may also choose to work in specific niches. When choosing an agency for your project, you can expect them to offer services across the following spectrum:

• Strategic and planning, e.g. brand strategy, content and marketing planning and strategy
• Production and creative design,  e.g. logo and brand design, website, apps, social media, packaging design
• Ongoing services, e.g. social media, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay-per-click (PPC), and marketing

By offering services from branding to marketing, a full-service agency can become your one-stop shop to fully realise the potential of your project, from the initial launch of your brand to ongoing marketing and advertising.

We have many long-term clients who are reassured they can contract our services to support their business, whether for an email marketing campaign or a brand-new website with fully-fledged e-commerce capabilities. Working with the same agency can remove a lot of hassles when juggling multiple projects, and their team will already have a lot of insights into your business when working with you in the long term.

Defining the difference between agency types

So, what Is the Difference Between a Full-Service Creative Agency and Other Types of Agencies, Such as Branding, Marketing or Advertising?

There is usually an overlap between branding, marketing and advertising, so it is common for a specialised agency to offer other services. Branding, for instance, encompasses everything from your logo design to your website to promotional materials, which can overlap with marketing and advertising, whose purpose is to promote your brand.

A branding agency will perform an in-depth analysis of your company and industry and develop a brand strategy along with the creative elements, such as the logo, typography, and colour palette. They will support the rollout of your brand and may also offer ongoing support with marketing services.

A marketing and advertising agency may offer branding services; however, their main objective is to find ways to increase brand awareness and sales. They will have a greater focus on analysing promotions and creating a marketing strategy as well as the execution of campaigns.

A full-service creative agency will offer everything the above agencies do, with a greater focus on design, content creation and everything to do with your brand image. They will likely provide other creative services that branding and marketing, and advertising agencies might not be able to – The Hideout, for example, also offers illustration, photography, and video.

What Type of Agency Do You Need?

If you only need a one-off project, choosing an agency with specialist skills in that area makes sense. In reality, you should choose the agency that you feel will do the best job for your budget, whether it is a dedicated or full-service agency.

You may, however, find your requirements change further down the road, such as you hired a branding agency to kick-start your brand, including a website, and you later find you need help with SEO, but your agency cannot provide this service. You will then need to hire a different agency that may offer suggestions for changes which require you to go back to the first agency to get them done.

One of the benefits of using a full-service agency is you would only need to consult with one company, and they would be able to advise on all aspects of your project from the offset. You can also go back to them at a later stage to complete any new work you need.

Another benefit is that working with multiple agencies simultaneously to complete all angles of a project can quickly become a problem. In contrast, a full-service agency will ensure their different teams work together, and everything flows smoothly. You can also reduce the amount of time you need to invest if you only need to liaise with one agency.

You may also find that using one agency will be more cost-effective if they offer you a package deal for your project, which might include services you would otherwise have to pay another agency for. It is worth shopping around, comparing prices and services, and considering any future work you may need.