Why handle creative production in-house as a brand?

Who hasn't wanted to be 100% free of creative production?

As you've probably noticed, creative production represents a significant workload. So you may have thought it would be better to leave it in the hands of a service provider.

Not so sure that's such a good idea, and we'll explain why in this article.

What is creative production?

Also known as "creative asset production", creative production refers to the process of creating, developing and managing all forms of visual communication.

The aim of this process is to bring multimedia and visual elements to life in order to promote a brand.

Before getting to the heart of the matter, it's important to note that creative production involves several stages:

1. Conception and ideation
2. Planning and strategy
3. Creation of visual elements
4. Revision and optimization
5. Validation and approval
6. Final production (which sometimes involves a multitude of variations)

As you can imagine, all these stages involve a number of different professions (designers, marketers, copywriters, etc.). It can be a real headache to orchestrate them all.

However, before you think about delegating this work to service providers, you should read on.

Creative production: why take it in-house?

Unless you're short of resources, it's not necessarily a good idea to outsource your brand's creative production.

Staying agile

If you leave all or part of your creative production in the hands of a service provider, you become dependent on them and the deadlines they impose. But in communications, agility is often the key to differentiation. It's what allows you to bounce back from current events, for example.

An in-house team ensures that you can respond to last-minute needs and projects. A service provider can also do this, but you're not their only customer. He has other obligations to meet, which may make him less available and cause you to lose agility.

The same applies to last-minute alterations. Although this situation can be avoided by military organization, it can happen to you. In this case, your service provider will not always be available to act quickly.

Reinforcing security and confidentiality

You're probably thinking that having your service providers sign a confidentiality agreement is enough to keep things confidential. I'm sorry to say that this is only true in theory.

If you keep creative production in-house, you increase the security of certain sensitive data and prevent it from falling into the hands of your competitors. They could then use it against you.

By bringing this process in-house, you also ensure that your brand retains a certain authenticity. Don't forget that a service provider works for other brands and applies his "touch" to every project he undertakes. Goodbye to singularity.

Save money

If we were to look only at the initial costs of creative production, this argument would seem to fall on deaf ears. But in the long term, keeping creative production in-house can result in significant savings.

Imagine what happens once the processes are in place and the creative side is up and running. Production times drop dramatically, and so do costs.

If you can't afford to bring all your creative production in-house, then outsource only the creative part. Keep final production and variations in-house.

Image Form is designed to do just that. It lets you collaborate with external service providers, leaving the creative side to them. They create the templates for your visuals. Then, using a simple form, you can modify the elements of this visual and create a multitude of variations for your communication. This process allows you to remain autonomous.

Making sure the project is really understood

Keeping creative production in-house also means avoiding misunderstandings about a project. Your team knows your objectives, and shares your values. Chances are, they'll quickly grasp the purpose of a communications project. When an executor understands a brand's overall strategy, he or she is better able to propose content that aligns with it.

Gaining independence and brand value

Sure, it takes time. But if you internalize the production of your visual creations, you and your teams will acquire and develop skills over time. These skills are then continually accessible, and you're no longer dependent on anyone else to benefit from them.

This know-how also enhances the value of your brand. You free yourself from external pricing that you don't control, thus reinforcing the viability of your communications strategy.

To conclude this article, we can say that in-house creative production has many advantages that are sometimes worth the initial investment. It's a long-term strategy that can help your brand become more distinctive and take it to the next level.

However, it's not a strategy for every organization. Weigh the pros and cons before determining the best formula for your brand and your objectives.

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