Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

General info

☀︎

General info ☀︎

What does good brands creative do?

We’re a creative, brand, and marketing agency. We help you do the research, come up with the strategy, and create whatever your brand needs, whether that’s a whole new brand identity or just a refresh, a marketing campaign, website, ads, content, and more. Sometimes we do all of that, sometimes we only do a part of it. We play well with others (we’re Good Brands Creative, not Bad Brands Un-Creative. Gems like that are on the house).

What industries does GOOD BRANDS CREATIVE WORK WITH?

We’ve worked with all kinds of different clients, including technology, healthcare, business consulting, consumer goods, finance, environmental, nonprofits, and more. If you’re curious about working with us, we’d love to hear from you, no matter what industry you’re in – with an important caveat:

We’re committed to being a good brand, and part of that is not working with industries that we believe are harmful to anyone, anywhere. We have also signed the Clean Creatives pledge, which means we will never work with fossil fuel companies.

WHAT MAKES GOOD BRANDS CREATIVE DIFFERENT?

We started our agency to help brands be good, and that starts with being a good brand ourselves: we’re honest, collaborative, transparent, and ridiculously committed to doing good work. Good brands make good things, and that’s the reason we exist: to make good things and good brands.

Working with us is different, too: we are a group of senior creatives working in a collective model, so we’re able to keep our overhead costs low (like super, super low) and staff every project with a lean team of experienced geniuses (who are also humble) and no bait-and-switch between pitch and production. That means you pay for creativity, not overhead; and your team is your team, from start to finish. We started Good Brands Creative to create a different agency model – we’re not the first, but we believe this is a better model for many clients who aren’t served by giant or even mid-sized agencies.

WHERE IS GOOD BRANDS CREATIVE LOCATED, and do you work with remote clients?

We’re based in Southern California and Washington, DC, so we’re remote by nature and can work with clients anywhere and everywhere. If you’re local to California or the DMV, we’d love to meet in person!

What types of business benefit most from working with good brands creative?

We’re here to help you be a good brand: to know your audiences and treat them with empathy and care, to have something of value to offer the world and a clear sense of what that is, and to make good things, whether it’s the stories you tell, the experiences you create, or the things you sell. If you want your brand to be a good brand, you’re going to get the most out of working with Good Brands Creative. But we’re also a group of ridiculously talented, smart, and did we mention humble? creatives who are here to do the best work of our careers.

Services & Process

☀︎

Services & Process ☀︎


what services does good brands creative offer?

We offer brand, creative, and marketing services. You can find the full list of services we offer here. We work with partner agencies to support our clients, so if we don’t do it, we know good people who do.

How does your creative process work from start to finish?

Every project is different – you’re going to read that a lot on this page. Don’t take a shot every time you read it, we’ll be worried about you.

But we try to follow the formula of research-strategy-creative on every project, even if there’s not much room for research and strategy. Our creative will be better if we have a good understanding of your brand, audiences, market, competitors, etc. and a strategic approach to achieving your goals. This means we start with a briefing and discovery, gather our insights, and align with you on strategy before moving into creative.

Once we start creative, we charge by the project, not the hour, so we can be more collaborative and transparent and not distracted by being scope police. That means you’ll get back and forth, iterations, and input, rather than the “Great Disappearing Agency” act (where an agency only surfaces for big presentations and rounds of revision every few weeks).

Do you provide digital marketing campaigns in addition to brand design?

You bet! We don’t just design brands – brands get built in the execution, not in the lofty statements and static guides. Bringing your brand to life by reaching your audiences over time is our ideal partnership. We offer a full range of digital marketing services, from go-to-market and website design, to content marketing and advertising, to SEO and email marketing.

Can you help us with both strategy and execution?

Yes, we’re an agency built on combining strategy with creative. We believe one is incomplete without the other. The best creative has a foundation of insights and strategy, and the best strategy has creativity intertwined in its DNA. That’s why every project team will be led by Senior Strategy and Senior Creative leaders.

Do you work on one-off projects or ongoing retainers?

We work on both one-time projects where we’ll never forget you and you’ll always be in our hearts, but not our inboxes, and BFFE retainers where we are an extension of your team (or an outsourced team completely). Every client needs completely different things, and we treat each engagement as a custom experience, not a pre-set, automated process.

How do you measure success for your clients?

Every client is different (take a shot!) so we want to have a strong understanding of your goals and objectives at the start of a project so we can determine the best strategy and tactics to meet your needs. We will also be transparent with you at the start of your project: some brand campaigns might be a long-term investment in brand loyalty and sentiment; other projects may have a more immediate focus on ROI and revenue. But every project is going to be measured by the ultimate indicator of success: your satisfaction and experience.

details

☀︎

details ☀︎

How much does it cost to work with Good Brands Creative?

We charge by the project, not the hour, and customize every project to your needs and budget, so every project is going to be different. We also offer monthly retainers for a bucket of hours if you need ongoing marketing, content, web, or design support – that starts at $175 per hour, so 20 hours per month is $3500, 30 is $5250, 40 is $7000, etc. Contact us for a quick estimate.

How long does a typical project take?

Again, every project is different, so if you have a deadline or key milestones, let’s talk. Here are some general ranges for an idea:

  • Research: 2-6 weeks

  • Strategy: 2-4 weeks

  • Web design: 3-4 weeks for an MVP site; 6+ weeks for a full site

  • Creative production: 4-6 weeks for a suite of assets

  • Campaigns: 2-6 weeks for prep, 1-2 weeks for concepts, 2+ weeks for production depending on levels

How do you collaborate with in-house marketing teams?

We’ve been in-house, we’ve worked with in-house teams at agencies large and small, and we’ve freelanced for in-house teams. We can be an extension of the team, embedding directly in meetings and projects, or we can have our defined area of responsibility and be an outsourced production team. But having a team of experts who know the brand, market, competitors, and audiences is a huge advantage for us (and you!).

Can you redesign or refresh an existing brand?

Yes, in fact, most brands we work on already exist. We love to create a brand new brand, but most of our clients need to evolve their existing brand for a variety of reasons. We’ll work to preserve what’s good while building for the future and addressing whatever challenges or opportunities initiated the rebrand.

Do you offer website design and development as part of branding?

Yes, your website is a 24/7 representative for your brand, often the first exposure or primary channel for finding out who you are and what you do. So your website is a critically important part of your brand experience, and we can help you align it to your foundational brand strategy and identity.

What results have you achieved for past clients?

We’ve increased awareness, loyalty, engagement, and competitiveness for hundreds of clients. We’ve created millions of interactions, clicks, and experiences. We’ve created leads, optimized funnels, improved conversion, and generated revenue. We’d love to share that with you in a virtual meeting where we can really share details, book one here.

Can I see examples of your past work or case studies?

Yes! We’ve worked with hundreds of clients to create brands, reach audiences, and tell stories. We’d love to share that with you in a virtual meeting or via email. Reach out to us here and we’ll share more details.

How do you approach ROI when it comes to branding and marketing?

We discuss your goals, objective, and measures of success at the start of every project. Our strategy and tactics come directly from that discussion, and those guide our creative. We don’t want to just make things for you, we want to make things that help you accomplish the thing your brand needs, and we want to have a plan for how we measure the performance of our creative and ideally allows us to adjust and correct course as we learn and go.

We also measure our success by the experience we create for you: we don’t want to be just another agency, we want to be a good brand, making the world a good place one meeting, deliverable, or project at a time. At the end of every project, we’re successful only if you had a good experience.

How do I know if Good Brands Creative is the right partner for my brand?

If being a good brand sounds good to you – if you want to know your audiences, have something of value to offer, and tell good stories – we want to help. The world is better if more brands are good, and we can help you change how you show up in the world. We hope to hear from you.