Why this agency brings Svengard & Co. into the content process so early

Marketing agencies in Sweden commonly subcontract English copywriting to meet clients’ needs. It's a process; however, that's easier said than done. The standard for incorporating English text is a late-stage approach. This often leads to copy of a lower-than-desired quality and a choice: delay delivery to rewrite or use the inferior text.

That’s why the Malm?-based agency Odd One Out reached out to Svengard & Co. about collaborating on English copy for their clients, but much earlier in the process. And in February of 2022, they brought us on to help with the branding for an interactive tech company and its unique product.

We’ve since joined forces with Odd One Out on other projects and more are in the pipeline.

A well-established design and communications agency, Odd One Out has relied on outside copywriters for English text in the past. Yet, the copywriting was quite often not part of the original scope of the project and usually added to a workflow already in-progress. It was a frustrating process.

“We think that copy usually comes in very late,” says Patrik Olsson, Art Director and Project Manager.

According to Olsson, the best results for finally delivered text come when the writers are present in initial meetings with clients. “It’s often in the first discussions that you want to include whoever is handling the copy," he explains. "They get to hear everything from scratch and understand the challenges and problems.”

Odd One Out needed something between a freelancer and an in-house writer. So they sought out a partner for a more collaborative work-for-hire relationship.

A strong foundation for working together

The first project with Odd One Out was for INNTQ and their interactive roller coaster simulator ROCO.

Svengard & Co. was involved from the get-go. We joined many of the Zoom calls in which Odd One Out and INNTQ discussed the overall strategy. We coordinated with Odd One Out on the messaging plan. We even visited INNTQ’s headquarters to interview the company founders and try ROCO for ourselves.

For Olsson, our participation in the early days of the process had an obvious benefit. “You are mentally there in the place where you need to be in the project,” he explains. “You see things and can ask questions, but also say if it would be better to do something another way — not just cater to the client's wishes.”

Helping INNTQ roll out ROCO & other client projects

The collaboration with Odd One Out for INNTQ required a lot of different copy and content. Svengard & Co. worked on everything from the company’s pitch deck and the press release announcing ROCO to graphic signage and the official ROCO website.

Odd One Out was able to delegate to us with confidence and seamlessly integrate our English text into the project. It was exactly the sort of partnership they had been looking for. "We don’t have to sit and act as project manager or filter for the client," says Olsson. "We introduce the dialogue with the customer and you take it further.”

And that approach provides the framework for future projects between Svengard & Co. and Odd One Out. "We don’t need to have an in-house copywriter,” Olsson explains. “But we still have the opportunity for a close collaboration with cutting-edge competency.”

Want to bring Svengard & Co. in on a project that needs English copy and content? Contact us at [email protected]!