AgencyMatch Agency shortlist Agency Shortlist · USD 69
You asked for a brand agency. You need two freelancers and a decision.
Four providers matched to the problem, and an honest argument for spending a third of the budget.
Your brief asks for a branding agency to reposition the company. Reading the brief, the positioning question is not settled internally, and no agency can settle it for you. This shortlist includes three agencies that could do the work you described, and one route that costs USD 22,000 and is probably the right answer.
Two of your three stakeholders described the target customer differently in the brief you sent us. Appointing a USD 60,000 agency to express a positioning that does not exist yet is the most common and most expensive mistake in this category, and it usually surfaces at the second presentation.
The brief
What you asked for, and what is in the document
Requested: full rebrand, new identity, messaging framework, website, six month engagement, USD 60,000.
| In your brief | What it implies | Settled internally? |
|---|---|---|
| Reposition for enterprise buyers | A strategy decision | No |
| Still serve existing clinic customers | Two audiences, possibly two brands | No |
| New visual identity | An execution decision | Yes |
| New website | An execution decision | Yes |
| Messaging framework | Downstream of the first two rows | Blocked |
| Six months | Reasonable for execution, long for strategy | Yes |
Page two of your brief describes the target as hospital procurement teams. Page five describes them as independent clinic owners. Those are different companies with different brands, and an agency will charge you to discover that.
Options
Four routes, compared
| Cost | Duration | Settles positioning? | Delivers identity? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agency A, brand consultancy | USD 58,000 | 20 weeks | Yes | Yes |
| Agency B, design studio | USD 44,000 | 14 weeks | No | Yes |
| Agency C, full service | USD 71,000 | 24 weeks | Partly | Yes |
| Staged: strategist then studio | USD 22,000 then 38,000 | 6 then 14 weeks | Yes | Yes, later |
The staged route costs USD 60,000 in total, the same as your budget. The difference is that you can stop after USD 22,000 if the positioning work tells you something that changes the brief, and that optionality is worth more than the discount.
Independent strategist, 6 weeks, USD 22,000
One senior person, interviews with your three stakeholders and eight customers, ends with a written positioning that the three of you have signed. Then brief the studio with a settled answer.
Agency A, USD 58,000
The only one of the three whose process genuinely starts with the strategy question. They will find the contradiction in section 01 in week two and the conversation will be uncomfortable and useful.
Agency B, USD 44,000
An excellent studio and the best portfolio of the three. Brief them in four months, not now. Given an unclear position they will produce something beautiful that nobody can agree on.
Risks
Where these relationships go wrong
| Risk | Which route | How to test it before signing |
|---|---|---|
| The named senior person does not work on it | All three agencies | Ask who is on the account weekly, by name, and put it in the contract |
| Scope stops at handover, not at adoption | B and C | Ask what happens in the eight weeks after delivery |
| Healthcare regulatory language is unfamiliar | B | Ask for one healthcare example where claims were reviewed |
| Strategy is a two day workshop labelled as strategy | C | Ask how many customer interviews are included, and who does them |
| The staged route loses momentum between stages | Staged | Contract the studio before the strategy finishes, starting on a fixed date |
- Who is on the account weekly, by name
- How many customer interviews, and conducted by whom
- What happens in the eight weeks after handover
- Ownership of files, fonts and source artwork
- What a change of direction in week ten costs
- Whether the three of you can agree the target customer in one sentence