You know when someone asks what you do for work at a party, so you give them the surface-level answer? And then they start asking more in-depth questions, and suddenly you're stumbling through an explanation you swear you knew how to give 30 seconds ago?
That's what explaining what a creative agency does can feel like.
So, welcome to our new series where we explain everything about House of Zemi, so you know exactly what you're getting yourself into. Because we know, sometimes agencies can be confusing.
Today's episode: WTF is a retainer?
Our version of a retainer is actually pretty simple. Not to humble brag or anything.
If we mutually decide that a retainer is the best way forward for your business, we ask you to commit to three months upfront (don't worry, we still invoice month to month). After that, the retainer is month to month.
Why three months? Because good marketing isn't something you throw at the wall on a Tuesday and magically have figured out by Friday.
Those first three months give us time to test things, figure out what works, ditch what doesn't, and actually put those ideas into action. Including that absolute cracker of an idea we had at 2am, frantically typed into our Notes app before falling back asleep and promptly forgetting it existed.
Good things take testing. Testing takes time. And three months gives us a decent window to get things moving in the right direction.
After those initial three months, we work together month to month. All we ask is for 30 days' notice when you want to wrap things up. Otherwise, we'll assume it's business as usual.
When we finish working together, we'll wrap up any outstanding work and, once your final invoice is paid, hand over access to everything in your Google Drive folder.
Yes, everything. The working files, the raw footage, the bits and pieces that never made it to the final cut. All of it.
We have absolutely no interest in holding your files hostage to maintain some bizarre position of power over you. It's weird. We hate it. And frankly, we've got better things to do.
Because when we finish working together, we'd quite like it if we could still wave at each other in public.
Here's the thing: we want the expectations to be clear on both sides.
We'll be upfront about what we expect from you, and we promise to do the same on our end. We expect you to communicate, honour your commitments and pay for work we've delivered. In return, you can expect us to do the work, communicate honestly and treat your business with the respect it deserves.
If something isn't working, let's talk about it. If circumstances change, let's talk about that, too. We're all adults here (well, hopefully anyway).
And while we're on the subject of paying for things, here's a little food for thought.
If you went to a restaurant, ordered a meal, ate the entire thing and then asked for a refund because you weren't happy with it, you'd probably get a few funny looks.
Same goes for us. If we've delivered the work we've agreed to do, the invoice still needs to be paid. If you're not happy with something, we absolutely want to hear about it. We'd much rather have an honest conversation and work out what's going on than have everyone silently resenting each other over email.
Anyway, that's our approach to retainers.
Three months to get things moving, month to month after that, 30 days' notice when you're ready to call it a day, and no weird games with your files.
We're here to do good work, build good relationships and make marketing a little less painful.
Not trap you in a contract until the end of time. Not hold your raw footage hostage. And not make you feel like you need a law degree to understand your own marketing agreement (although, full disclosure, we did get an actual lawyer to write ours. We're creative, not stupid).
We're a creative agency, not a hostage negotiator.
Have questions about how we work? Send them our way.
We think there's nothing hotter than open communication.