Putting a Price on Creativity in the Events Industry

Creativity. An event industry professional’s secret weapon. The elevatory sprinkling of fairy dust that gives rise to truly extraordinary events. It’s one of the event industry’s most valued commodities. Bringing big ideas to life is what we in the events industry live and breathe for. Aside from organisational skills and contacts, it’s arguably what we’re hired for. That extra 'je ne sais quoi' that you might not get with an in-house event. As creative professionals, we push the realms of possibility on a daily basis.

Yet when it comes to pitching or tendering, event professionals are often expected to give creative ideas their away for free. And costing up the ideas phase within a pricing strategy is almost unheard of, rather it is hidden away or lumped into a generic category, not recognised at all. We are all too often guilty of hiding our brightest light under a bushel.

A while back in my events business I decided to be very wary of tendering. I had been burnt on a few occasions where we pitched a ‘big idea’ for an event, only to be undercut on price and our ideas used anyway. I decided that there were better ways to win new business.

I’m a firm believer that there is a lesson in everything. Here, life was that demonstrating to me that creativity is one of my most valuable assets. The ‘big ideas’ I have been gifting to companies are actually what sets my business apart from our competitors.

The decision to avoid pitch processes was one of the best I ever made. I soon discovered that networking, word of mouth and demonstrating our creativity through actual events were far more powerful factors in growing the business.

The conundrum was, and still is to a certain extent, how do you put a price on that creativity?

An Intangible Asset

Artists, designers, musicians, writers. Anyone that makes a living out of a creative skill needs to find some way of pricing the ideas stages of their work. So why do we find this so hard to approach?

The difficulty comes because ideas and creativity are intangible. Non-physical. Until they’re brought to fruition they exist only in a person’s mind, or as a concept.

Creativity is immeasurable - can we really measure the impact of an idea? How can we demonstrate the difference between an event that incorporated a brilliant idea and the one that didn’t when one or the other doesn’t exist?

Ideas are subjective too. What one person loves another will despise with equal passion. It’s often hard for another person to visualise the idea until it is done and by that point it’s too late to discuss a monetary value.

Ideas by the Hour

Deciding on a pricing structure that pays homage to ideas and creativity is crucial. Some event professionals will charge for an event with an hourly rate in mind.

For me, charging for ideas according to time is nonsensical. An idea often goes through many iterations before it becomes a final piece. There’s no way of initially knowing how long it will take before the idea is honed to perfection.

A great idea doesn’t equal a specified amount of time. Some come in a flash of inspiration, some take days, months, even years to present themselves. I often get ideas when I’m on the treadmill before I start work, yet I can hardly charge a client for the entirety of my morning run, despite it being a huge part of my creative process.

Conversely, some creatives only realise that their best idea happened at the start of the creative process, but there was no way of knowing that until they had explored all those avenues that were to follow.

Putting Value on the Process

As creatives we need to be more transparent with clients about the value of ideas and creativity, selling this as one of our USPs. We also need to put more value on creativity ourselves.

There’s an anecdote about Pablo Picasso who, it’s said, on sketching a woman only to be questioned by her on the price because it only took a few minutes, simply replied:

“It took me my whole life to learn to do that.”

Creativity can’t be based on time. One idea isn’t better than another because it took longer to think of it. Brilliance can happen in the blink of an eye. Terrible ideas can take an age to come to fruition.

When considering putting a price on creativity I now know I need to educate my clients on my creative process, which I communicate from the outset.

Part of my process is research. When I collaborate with a client, I want to know everything about them. If it’s a corporate, it’s about really getting underneath the skin of a brand, there are few others that will go to the level or degree of research that I do, but to me this where the ideas begin to flow. For example, we once had a jewellery company come to us to organise their 100th anniversary. During the research phase I found that the brothers who founded the company started out by selling their wares from a suitcase. So, in honour of this we served all of the cocktails at the party out of vintage suitcases.

Crucially, I charge for this part of the process. Time is money. So research and creativity need to be factored into the final event cost.

It’s the most important part of the event management process so why would you do it for free.

Talking About Ideas as Value Added

I now price all my events as a flat fee, or occasionally as a percentage of the event. Within a quote, I often list out the different elements of an event. The cost of the lighting. The décor. The entertainment. Crucially now, I am always sure to add research, development, and ideas phase to that. And I take great pains to explain to the client that this, if our price is higher than another event company this is for the fairy dust sprinkled on top. That touch of magic. I use examples of the standout ideas that make our events truly extraordinary.

I’ve read articles that argue that creatives should charge for their work based on impact rather than time. Yet it’s difficult to measure impact until way further down the line. So, what I have found is that there must be an element of trust. And as a creative person it’s your job to sell the value that your ideas are adding to that event.

Pricing creativity then, is linked to confidence in the value you can offer a client. Your job is to convince them of the value. Or as we do, let the value speak for itself.

LIZ TAYLOR is founder and CEO of the event planners, the Taylor Lynn Corporation, and has been at the forefront of the UK event scene for over thirty years.

www.tlc-ltd.co.uk │ Twitter: @taylorlynncorp │ Instagram: @taylorlynncorp

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