- It's been said many times that you get what you pay for,
and in the case of production and distribution services,
that truism is very accurate.
In this video, I'm going to cover the importance of production.
When it makes sense to work with full service providers,
and when it makes sense to go direct to specialists.
Now, the list of specialists involved in marketing
and advertising production is as long as your arm.
From sound engineers on a video shoot
to user experience experts for your website
to a photographer for your product photos.
So, instead of listing them, let's consider an example.
Think of Apple in the way
that they unveil their new products.
I say unveil instead of launch
because these are truly theatrical events
where multilanguage websites go live,
products are in stores all over the world to demo,
ads are launched in multiple countries,
and millions of emails are sent out to customers,
all within minutes of a product announcement.
From a production perspective,
let's think about how they pull this off.
An in-house team will determine all the touch points
a dedicated agency would design and distribute the TV,
print, and outdoors ads, and digital content
working with hundreds of suppliers all over the world.
The media for these would've been bought
months in advance for that moment.
Now, Apple has a philosophy that every touch point
to a customer should provide a delightful experience,
right down to the receipts you get in the Apple store.
They understand the importance of design that comes to life
through high-quality production.
They work with legions of suppliers all over the world
to bring their brand to life.
Now, think of your own customer touch points,
then think about how you can optimize
your customer experience.
Simplicity, quality and attention to detail
do not necessarily mean expensive.
To determine whether you should outsource the production
to a full service company who designs, produces,
and distributes your work for you,
or you should work with specialists direct,
use this three-point checklist.
How critical is this work
to the long-term success of my company?
If high, bring in experts.
How comfortable am I with my marketing skills
to brief, supervise and judge quality?
If low on comfort, bring in experts.
How much time do I have to dedicate to following up
on the millions of details on any production?
If you don't have the time, bring in experts.
If you have the time and skill to brief
and work with the photographer for your product shoot,
for example, do it.
If not, bring in experts.
Now, experts can be a variety of people.
You could work with the marketing consultant
who acts kind of like a general contractor.
They're the conduit between you
and the people producing the work.
The benefit of these people
is that they can represent you strategically,
and they think about the impact on your broader business,
or they could be a producer.
A producer is also a conduit,
but they generally don't come
with the broader business insights.
An agency big or small will do both of those roles.
Over time, you'll find that the right production
and distribution partners can become great collaborators,
and indeed, great business partners.