An agency sells thinking, so its own image is the first test.
Clients judge an agency first by how it presents itself. Sinh Vũ gives your agency a style that is recognizable at a glance, so you are chosen for how you think and not only for the quote.
Three things come first: a stance you can state in one sentence, a website with project pages that show how you think, and a set of profiles and presentations in the agency's own style. Those three decide whether clients see the agency as different before they hear a quote.
What the agency believes, who it works for, and how it differs from other agencies.
Each project states the problem, the approach and the result, rather than just posting product photos.
The company profile and the pitch deck are recognizably the agency's, not a generic template.
They all do creative work, but what clients buy from each kind differs, so the way each introduces itself differs too.
Their customersBusinesses that want a partner to think alongside them over the long term.
Brand challengeShow how you think and how you work, so clients trust you before handing over a big job.
Their customersBrands and other agencies looking for a team to shoot and edit a campaign.
Brand challengeA sample film and project pages distinctive enough to set you apart from other production houses.
Their customersSmall and mid-sized businesses that need a design team who work lean and fast.
Brand challengeState your style and the scope of work you take on, so you aren't compared on the quote alone.
These are the places where agencies lose clients, and where creative talent alone can't save them.
After the pitch round, the client lines the agencies up side by side as interchangeable suppliers.
State your own way of working and the reasons for it from the profile and the website onward, so clients choose on how you think.
Start from this problemThe agency pours effort into many pitches with no criteria for which clients to join.
A standard set of documents and a description of how you work, which helps filter clients and shortens preparation time.
Start from this problemClients view a project but don't understand the problem, the approach, or the agency's role.
Rewrite each project in three parts: the problem, the approach and what the agency did, all in one consistent layout.
Start from this problemEach person on the team builds slides their own way, so they don't look like the work of one agency.
One presentation template and a shared set of type, color and layout for the whole team.
Start from this problemAt the Look closer stage. A client who has the agency's name opens the website and the profile. If the latest project is old or doesn't show how the agency thinks, the client moves on to another agency.
Touchpoints are the places where clients see the agency before they meet. You don't need to do everything at once. These five decide most of whether a client invites the agency to a pitch round.
Clients usually open the website right after hearing the agency's name.
It gets sent on and forwarded to other decision makers at the client.
It is when clients see how the agency thinks and how it speaks.
Good people choose an agency by the image the agency presents of itself.
A client who comes for a meeting sees the agency's taste in the office.
Listed in the order to do them. Stance comes first and image second, because a handsome image with no stance still gets compared on the quote.
Settle the stance and the target clients: how this agency differs from the others.
Name, mark, color and type that carry the stance you just settled.
A company profile and a presentation template for every pitch.
A website and project pages that show how you think.
As the team grows: guidelines so newcomers still produce work in the agency's style.
Sinh Vũ has not published a true advertising agency project. The three below are the closest: a growth consulting firm, an online advertising network, and Sinh Vũ itself rebuilding its own brand.
GrowSteak is the first agency in Vietnam to reach HubSpot Platinum Partner status, selling B2B companies the hardest thing there is: sustainable growth…
A company that sells something intangible has only its brand as tangible proof. GrowSteak settled its position before any mark was drawn, so the design was approved within a single morning.
In 2007 Moore Corp built Vietnam's first online ad network, which meant its mark had to live on other people's pages…
An ad network's mark lives on other people's materials, so it must detach cleanly and be recognized in a very small tile. Moore stretches the last e into an arrow that can be pulled out and used alone.
Brand identity studio Sinh Vũ becomes its own toughest client, rebuilding its identity from strategy to studio space and the operating system behind it.
A studio that builds brands for others must pass the same test it sets for clients. Sinh Vũ asked itself how it differs from a logo workshop, then settled its position before drawing.
The principles behind it
Only if the current logo doesn't express your stance or doesn't work at small sizes. If it is merely dated, you can keep the name and the mark and refresh the profile and the website first.
It should include the agency's stance, how it works, three to five signature projects told as problem and approach, the team, and contact details. It shouldn't be just a collection of product photos.
Show how you think and how you work before talking about the quote, through project pages, the profile and the first conversation. Clients who understand where an agency differs are less likely to line agencies up like commodities.
Fewer, told in depth, is better than many with only pictures. Three to six signature projects, each with the problem, the approach and the agency's role, is enough for a client to decide.
Yes. The studio's brand should express how it works, while a client's project should express the client. That boundary lets clients view the work without mistaking the studio's style for something laid over everything.
A few lines about your organization, your clients and what is holding you back is enough. Sinh Vũ reads and replies within one working day.