By Daniel Ghinn 
A few days ago, a gentleman knocked on the door of my house and, when I answered it, insisted that I needed a new driveway installed. He looked at my current driveway as if it were somehow inferior or faulty, and kindly offered to provide me with a quotation to lay a new, block paving replacement. I thanked him for his offer but told him that I was very happy with my current driveway.
Was I concerned that the sales rep had looked at my current driveway with disdain and advised me that I needed a new one? Of course not. If, however, I had employed a structural surveyor to inspect my driveway and he had advised that it needed replacing, I would have naturally taken steps to find out what would be involved. I might even have asked the engineer for advice about what sort of driveway to install.
An impartial agency?
Now think about how you approach your website or email marketing. Do you ask a web design and build agency to advise you about your choice of technology, design, information architecture or content structure? Do you go further, and allow the agency to define your strategy for using the Internet? Would you expect them to be impartial, or attached to the solution they want you to buy from them?
Many digital agencies are now offering online or digital strategy as a service. The problem is, as long as they are also hoping to implement the solution that they recommend, it will be impossible for them to give you impartial advice.
A new way of working
This dilemma was the inspiration behind the transformation of Creation Interactive from a digital agency to an independent consultancy. We realised that to provide truly independent, open-minded advice about digital media we would need to have no ‘axe to grind’. So our clients trust us to advise them impartially, and even to manage the relationship with their web and email agencies.
It’s a bit like being an architect in a construction project. Find out more about that in . We prefer to help our clients plan their web strategy, and measure its results, than carry out the build itself. We’ll oversee the build to make sure it achieves the desired results, and because our advice comes with decades of experience in a breadth of technologies, we really can help you create the solution that will achieve your business objectives.
Planning your success
That’s why our clients engage us at any and every stage of their project: we help define the strategy and plan for success; we oversee the build and implementation; we provide independent testing; and we measure results to identify improvements. It’s what makes us tick, so we don’t need to try and sell you a new web site or a driveway.
to find out how our independent advice could help you achieve more results with your web strategy.
