Making Effective Decisions

When should an Advertiser share production budgets?  

The debate around how to allocate advertising budgets is not a new concept, whether you are a start-up or an established brand.  When marketers deliberate about how best to optimize dollars and get the most and best from their agency partners, the question around when and how much budgets should be shared often inserts itself into the narrative.

Some advertisers prefer to brief an agency without providing a budget; others provide either exact spend allocation or budget ranges at the time of briefing.  

Sometimes there is a misconception that withholding budgets until concepts are received will allow for greater creativity and can decrease the chances of getting "bad ideas."  However, this approach can backfire as more often than not, as it can result in process delays and problems with execution in the production phase.

Sharing production budgets upfront allows agency partners to manage stakeholder expectations better.  Limited funds do not directly equate to bad creative ideas.  One rule of thumb, a good idea is a good idea, and how that particular idea gets executed depends on the expertise and cleverness of the ad agency's production teams.

Please visit our website at creedconsultingservices.com to learn about how we help companies benchmark budgets and manage financial expectations with creative partners.