Creatives: 'clients want more, for less'
Posted: Tue, 09 Jan 2007
Almost half the creative agencies freelancers are likely to work for are positive about 2007- but unprecedented challenges for others mean things will get tougher in the coming months.
An analysis of what UK agencies supplying a creative service, such as PR, advertising and design, think about 2007 has been compiled by Paprika, the software company, in a new report.
The report, obtained by Freelance UK, reveals that most creative agencies feel client companies are becoming more demanding, particularly in the design sector.
Clients not only have more of a sophisticated understanding of what they require, but they are also more ‘tech-savvy,’ and realise desktop publishing software is widely available.
Beyond and inclusive of the design sector, the majority of agencies agreed that client expectations are on the up – defined as companies wanting more work for less money.
For growing agencies this could prove a problem, as greater pressure to perform is occurring just as the cost of attracting creative talents is “constantly increasing,” the report found.
The difficulties in the coming months will be even more acute for agencies in sectors where the competition is fierce – a concern currently worrying PR agencies the most.
As a result of the negative factors, 35% of creative agencies said they expected ‘things are going to get tougher’ within the next few months.
Similarly, a majority of creative consultancies said their business is under greater price pressure than it was five years ago.
However, almost 50% were upbeat about the future, citing their agency’s prospects as ‘good,’ while a further 15% said they don’t expect much to change in 2007.
The biggest challenges facing creative agencies are easier to pin down, Paprika hinted, namely - the desire to improve creativity and raise client appreciation of creative contribution.
But most creatives have given up before they’ve even started: just two per cent said they aim to focus on convincing clients to put a higher value on creativity in the future.
Paprika reflected on the troubles ahead: “It’s a vicious circle. Clients seem to be continually demanding more for their money while the cost across all the creative disciplines of attracting the right people to deliver a better product and higher quality service is constantly increasing.
“And escaping this circle is particularly difficult given competition within the market.”
See this article at Freelance UK.