Creative agencies used a creative drive to make money and then wrote it up and sold it, according to documents obtained by Politico.
According to the documents, which were reviewed by POLITICO, agencies used the drives as a way to earn commissions from their clients.
The drive would typically start with an outline of a story.
Then, the client would typically hire an agency to write a story about their business.
The stories were then passed around to clients, who would then choose the best story.
According to a 2016 Creative Agency Insider report, Creative Drive programs were one of the fastest growing segments of the digital advertising market in 2016, accounting for nearly one-third of all digital advertising revenue.
Advertisers often use the agency drive to create creative works of their own.
“If you’re in a situation where you need to go out and find a writer to do something for you, you can create a creative or a work for you that doesn’t require a writer,” says Jon Schleifs, senior vice president at Creative Agency Insights.
He also points out that a creative agency could have an unlimited number of stories to work with, but most agencies prefer to focus on one or two stories.
But the agency that’s writing the story for the client might have more flexibility than others, depending on how much money they need to earn.
“If I’m writing a piece for a client, it’s like I need to get the client to pay me $150,000, which is a lot of money,” says Schlef, adding that the agency might want to spend more on the creative than they would if they were just writing a story for their client.
Schlef says that he’s never heard of an agency doing a creative write-off for their story.
In the Creative Agency newsletter, a Creative Agency executive wrote that agency drive stories have typically been written for $1,000 or less, and that it is “not unusual to see a client pay the agency for a piece of content that has no cost.”
But a creative can still have a hard time getting paid, and in some cases, even the client has to pay.
Creative Agency Insider’s 2016 report found that in 2017, the average Creative Agency fee was $25,000.
In 2018, it was $39,000 and in 2019, it reached $58,000 according to the report.
At Creative Agency Insight, the agency pays an average of $3,000 a piece.
It’s possible that some agencies can have more than one creative writing writer, but there’s not a standard.
“Creative writing is very hard to get, and a lot is dependent on the type of work,” says Steve Jernigan, vice president of business development and marketing at Creative Agent Insights, adding: “It’s also very dependent on how many creative drives are being written.”
In his interview with Politico, Schlefe says the agency drives are usually written with a theme in mind, and it’s the client’s responsibility to find the best stories to pitch to potential clients.
When asked why a client might want a creative for their work, Schmeffs says it’s often because of the client asking for it.
However, Schlengh says the creative drive is not a financial contract, and if the client is paying for the work, they have the right to terminate the creative.
If a client doesn’t want to pay the creative agency, the creative can simply stop writing.
“[Creative drives] are not a contract.
They’re a form of writing.
They have a certain level of creativity,” Schleffs said.
Creatives have been working in the digital ad space for decades.
And while the creative is still very much a part of the agency, it is now much more focused on the ad and brand side of the business, according the Creative Agent Insider report.
