The Clienting Podcast: Recent Episodes
Grant Sanders
Imagine if clients could get inside the heads of creative people. And impact the creative process for the better. The Clienting Podcast gives anyone who hires creative people tips and insights gleaned from three decades of working in the creative services industry. We help clients understand the rules of creative engagement and give them the tools to strengthen their relationship with creative service firms and make the work better.
I ran across an interesting discussion on the Fishbowl app this week prompted by the above question. The answer? Maybe it is. Maybe it’s changed. Maybe it’s just sleeping. Hmmm?
This podcast is a cleverly packaged ad for a SAND studio consultative service: The SAND Studio Workshops. I promise I will only do these kinds of podcasts once every 90 episodes. Here’s the rundown of the workshops I offer. I’ve done a few of these and the reviews are glowing. Let’s talk about your needsContinue reading "90. The SAND Studio Workshops"
It is not lost on creative people that sometimes a brilliant idea dies after we present it to you, dear client, and then you turn around and present it to your boss. Not pointing fingers, mind you. But the idea was doing fine until you took it to your management team and then, well, um,Continue reading "89. Presenting creative work"
How do you know you’re in a relationship with a creative service form that might be having problems? These red flags are a good sign. It’s not fatal, but it is worth keeping an eye on.
There are plenty of reasons to think AI is cool. There are plenty of reasons to think AI is a powerful weapon against everything we hold dear. Let’s chat about that, okay? (Even though I promised myself I’d never go there.)
I recently gobbled up a book by Rick Rubin, the storied record producer and record label founder. The title, The Creative Act: A Way of Being. And this episode is a kind of book report — or at least the first part of one. I’ve pulled ten quotes from the book that have some bearingContinue reading "86. On The Creative Act by Rick Rubin."
[Originally aired Feb 15, 2023] There was a time when you could expect to see a lot of great ads during the annual airing of the Superbowl. Now, not so much. This year’s ads were uniformly bad, or at least well-made but fatally flawed in some way. (I’m looking at you, Jesus) with a fewContinue reading "85. Repeat: Super Bowl ads post-mortem."
Can someone who’s not particularly creative learn to become creative? Yes. It’s possible. Maybe not overnight. And maybe not in crazy-dramatic ways. However, I believe that creativity is something that anyone can build if they have the right attitude and the right approach. This podcast contains 11 things you can do — 11 tasks forContinue reading "84. How to be a more creative client."
The year is young. Ripe with possibilities. The slate is clean. Pick your well-worn metaphor. Last month, I leaned on a friend to supply some predictions about the year to come. His name is Jeff Mard. Here’s his LinkedIn bio. He is a fractional Chief Growth Officer who has worked on both the agency andContinue reading "83. The 2024 Outlook"
Trust points are perhaps the greatest currency a client-creative relationship can have. And it goes both ways. Clients need to build trust points with creative service folks so they can make special requests and get work done quickly. And creative folks need to build trust points to get better work and referrals. This episode talksContinue reading "82. Building Trust Points"
A lot of clients see friction, tension, and negativity as bad. And it most certainly can be. But it can also be good — maybe even essential — for the work. This episode of the Clienting Podcast talks about friction and how to use it to your advantage, both in your relationship with your creativeContinue reading "81. The Friction Episode."
In this episode of the Clienting Podcast, we walk through a hypothetical job and get to see how the sausages are made. We talk about why some things take more time in a creative service firm than they should. We look at the reasons why some agencies and design firms have a complex process whileContinue reading "75. The Process Episode"
Clienting is moving to a bi-weekly format (Every other week, not twice a week!). And to make up for the lack of fair warning and for the 28 people out there who were worried that I had fallen into a well or something and were wondering where the latest episode was, here’s a repeat ofContinue reading "74. Repeat: The good input episode"
Hey, we are kicking off a new website project here in the SAND studio and I thought it would be a good idea to bring the listener along on the planning process. And that starts with a checklist. In this episode, we discuss content management systems like WordPress, Wix, Drupal, and Squarespace (but there areContinue reading "73. New Website Checklist"
Nobody is perfect. Not even you, dear clients. But if there was such a thing as a perfect client, that unicorn would be described completely and fully in this week’s episode. You can also check out the inspiration for this week’s episode on my website here: https://www.digsand.com/#slide=3 which in turn was inspired by an episodeContinue reading "72. The Perfect Client Episode."
It’s summer on Nantucket and billionaires are behaving badly. And it reminds me that sometimes — not always, mind you — sometimes clients behave badly. So here’s a list of things not to do. And why. Not for you, dear client, but for someone you might know, right? Of course. Have a wonderful day. AndContinue reading "71. Don’t Do That."
Often, people in the creative service business use terms that you’ve never heard before. And even more often, clients use a number of terms incorrectly. Which makes us creative people snicker behind your back. Sorry. But it’s true. So here is a handy glossary of terms commonly used (and misused!) in the ad, design, andContinue reading "70. The Glossary of Terms Episode."
Clients, what do the awards that your creative service firm wins mean to you? This is a candid discussion about the benefits and pitfalls of awards. Are they cool validations of good work? Or are they ridiculously expensive vanity-driven garbage that does zero good for you as a brand? (Perhaps the answer is somewhere inContinue reading "69. The Awards Episode."
In part two of our interview with Veteran Boston-area Design Director and Mass Art instructor, Tony Leone, we discuss the personality of typography and ways designers can convey the use and intention behind their design choices to clients.
Tony Leone is a veteran Boston Area designer and Mass Art instructor who has created some of the most compelling work for close to 30 years. And in this episode of the Clienting Podcast, we talk about everything you might want to know about typography as a client who must often approve and understand recommendationsContinue reading "67. Interview with Tony Leone on Typography, Part One."
I’m uncomfortable today so you are going to be uncomfortable as well. I have bad poison ivy on my arms, knees, and face and you have a creative project to knock out of the park. In today’s podcast, we talk about your comfort zone and the six ways to can leave it behind and doContinue reading "66. Get out of your comfort zone."
In honor of Independence Day here in the US, I provide some thoughts on independence in our industry. Why people like me are walking away from the agency model. Why Independent voices are valuable in in-house marketing and creative organizations. And why we may be entering an era when Independent practitioners are becoming a moreContinue reading "65. The independence episode"
In this episode, we talk about a few of the many cognitive biases and mental heuristics that often cause our brains to do the wrong thing in the marketing world. Both creative folks and clients. These are good things to know so we can all be aware of how our brains are not our friendsContinue reading "64. The brain glitch episode."
This week’s podcast is a bit of a departure as I go into some depth on a philosophical difference I have with most of the people doing work in the creative business these days. My premise: We are measuring, and focusing on the wrong stuff. If you think a CTR is a valid way toContinue reading "63. Magic over metrics"
Well, dear client, it had to happen at some point. We are finally letting you into the inner sanctum of where ideas come from. In this slightly scary journey, you will learn about the rules we all follow when we work in teams to come up with ideas for ads, videos, brochures, billboards, and more.Continue reading "62. Where do ideas come from?"
In Episode 38, way back in December (which feels like a lifetime ago, right?), we discussed some bad reasons to fire your creative service firm. Today, we have put off the unpleasant business of talking about the valid reasons you should show your firm the door long enough. Let’s rip off that Band-Aid®. (Over aContinue reading "61. Ten reasons to fire your agency."
In part 3.5 of our four-part series (math is not my thing), we talk about visual identity in a different context: the brand style guide. As a client, you can get a lot of value from style guides. Either the ones already created by designers or practitioners you may want to work with (what betterContinue reading "60. Rebranding Part 3.5 — the brand style guide."
It’s time to create a visual identity. What should you expect? In this episode, we walk through the steps you’ll take to help a designer come up with a rebranded logo, color palette, photo, or illustration style, typography choices, and more. Plus, there’s a special guest appearance by a very loud Carolina Wren outside theContinue reading "59. Rebranding Part Three: Visual Identity"
You might be surprised to discover all of the steps that go into a rebranding process. It’s common. And it’s one reason many clients don’t budget enough to actually take on a rebranding engagement in the first place. This stuff is not easy, dear client. But so worthwhile when done right. In this episode, weContinue reading "58. Rebranding part two: process"
There’s a lot on the line when you decide to undertake a brand refresh or a complete rebrand. It’s stressful. It’s not easy. It’s complex. It requires more than one podcast episode to explain. (Four actually. Maybe more.) In this, the first in a series of episodes on rebranding, we talk a little bit aboutContinue reading "57. The rebranding episode, part one."
Getting off on the right foot is an art and a science. And the kickoff’s impact on the creative process cannot be understated. In this episode we talk about singular messages, having good research, setting expectations, and why some creative people will never read your creative brief. Never. Ever. I’m not saying it’s right. I’mContinue reading "56. The kickoff episode"
There are all kinds of ways to do market research and they all have their place. But some kinds of research are better than others when it comes to informing creative work and making the work better. For example: testing creative? Yeah, no. Don’t do that. This episode will explain why. If you like it,Continue reading "55. Good research."
I’m wiped out from paying my taxes this week, and I couldn’t find the energy for a new podcast episode, so here’s an encore of a show about money and cool ways to save it while still doing good work. Enjoy! Working with a creative service firm can often require a set budget and inContinue reading "54. (Repeat!) The Cheat Codes To Saving Money."
This episode is stuffed with good info. My friend and collaborator, Michael Fagen, directs humor, which is one of the hardest things to do well. In this episode, we talk about different kinds of humor, how directors take a good script and make it great, working with good actors, and what clients can do toContinue reading "53. Michael Fagen, Director"
Who should you hire? A freelancer or an agency? Well, that depends upon a lot of things. Your needs, your budget, the kind of work you do, the way you like to work, the time available to do the work, and a few other things. If this podcast helps you out, rate us on theContinue reading "52. Freelancers Vs. Agencies"
Sometimes you just need to be able to get creative work out the door, am I right? And it’s not always easy to do. But there are ways you, as a client, can help your creative teams move more quickly. This episode contains 16 proven methods for going fast in the creative world. It requiresContinue reading "51. How To Go Quickly."
Yes. Clickbait. But after I provide a dozen good tips on spotting brand suckage, you will be glad you clicked. Baited or not. As a bonus, I will walk through the steps I take to remedy this malady. Hope you dig it. And if you do, please rate the podcast on the Apple Podcast app,Continue reading "50. Why Your Brand Sucks."
For years, I worked without a net. Or, rather, without a contract. And I fell a couple of times. Ouch. Now, despite the fact that I’m not really in love with the process of getting contracts written, edited, and signed, I recognize how important they are. Contracts are your friends. For you the client andContinue reading "49. The Contract Episode"
Teresa Herd has held top creative positions on the agency side but she really hit on something when she moved to the brand side with Staples in the Boston area and later on the West Coast with Intel. There she won tons of awards and accolades (Ad Age’s Creativity 50, Ad Age In-house Agency ofContinue reading "48. Teresa Herd"
Evaluating design or art direction* can be somewhat difficult. So many terms. So many elements. So many things to consider. And not all designers are easy to talk to. This episode talks about the four tools you can use to evaluate design and provide good feedback to a designer or art director. We cover type,Continue reading "47. The Design Episode"
In this episode of the Clienting Podcast, we talked to the founder of Aura Casting in San Francisco, Taylor Lambert, about the many things a client or creative person should know and understand before producing a project involving talent. How to cast actors and real people (Or real people who are actors). How to findContinue reading "46. Taylor Lambert of Aura Casting"
There was a time when you could expect to see a lot of great ads during the annual airing of the Superbowl. Now, not so much. This year’s ads were uniformly bad, or at least well-made but fatally flawed in some way. (I’m looking at you, Jesus) with a few notable exceptions. And at anContinue reading "45. Super Bowl Ads Post Mortem"
The first in our new series, “Clienting Shorts!” Once a month we are offering a quick hit of ideas and insights in about half the time of our regularly scheduled podcasts. It’s the Miller Lite of podcasts. Great taste. Less filling. You get the idea. This week: how to break the rules and why. Hint:Continue reading "44. Breaking the rules."
This week, we offer an explanation of how headlines are written and a few of the various kinds of headlines you might encounter. Including those with bad puns which you should generally stay away from if possible. Examples abound. Mostly bad examples, which are the ones we all learn from most, isn’t that right? ThisContinue reading "43. The Headline Episode."
What makes good copy good? In this podcast, I go into the nuanced criteria for good copy in a little bit of detail. I also strangely go off on a tangent on ChatGPT, SEO and about how, when the robopocalypse comes around, I’ll go underground and become a rebel cyber killer, kicking robot butt andContinue reading "42. The good copy episode."
In part two of our discussion, Jennie and I talk about the three things that clients can possess that make the work better. And we get into some pretty interesting and funny examples. She answers the following questions: How can losing a client be the ultimate measure of creative success? How can in-house and outsideContinue reading "41. Jennie Moore, Group CD at Wong Doody, Seattle. Part two."
One of the ways to tell a good agency from a great one is by learning about the agency’s process. Is it inclusive? Is it democratic? Does it take into consideration the needs of clients? In part one of my discussion with Jennie Moore of Wong Doody, we get into that as well as someContinue reading "40. Jennie Moore, Group CD at Wong Doody, Seattle."
Happy New Year, everyone. By way of a recap of last year’s episodes, we will discuss resolutions that listeners of The Clienting Podcast might consider as we make our way into the new year. The most important resolution? To resolve to review and rate the Clienting podcast in the Apple Podcast app, of course!
Let’s face it. There are a lot of excellent reasons to cut ties with your creative service firm. But sometimes clients come up with reasons that don’t make sense at all. In this episode, we talk about four bad reasons to fire your firm and ways to either overcome that objection or find more validContinue reading "38. Bad reasons to fire your creative firm"
Please, jump inside my brain and check out the systematic checklist I go through to evaluate the creative work my teams do and the work I do as well. As a client, you can (and should) evaluate creative work the same way. This checklist walks through feasibility issues, brand fit, and strategic alignment. We willContinue reading "37. The creative evaluation blueprint"
This podcast is briefer than the last podcast on briefs, but only by a few minutes, and it is likely not the last episode we will ever do on the subject. I could go on and on on the subject of briefs, ironically. Plus, I have several pals who are experts on the brief andContinue reading "36 The Brief, part two."
The irony is not lost on us that it requires two whole podcast episodes — maybe more — to discuss something that is called a “brief.” But, you know what? If we can get the creative brief right, then the creative team is far more likely to deliver something that you will like, than ifContinue reading "35. The Brief, Part One."
It seems like so many things these days are free. Free images. Free social music. Free media. Free AI tools. But some things still cost good folding money. This discussion is about how we can face the future of creativity and the economics of our business head-on.
A short and insightful discussion about insights. What they are. Where they come from. How hard they are to uncover. And why millennials on TikTok are not necessarily equipped to come up with them.
Sitting atop of the client/creative annals of frustration and pain is the naming process. Product names. Service names. Company names. It is one of the hardest things in the world to do right and so difficult to pull off that it is nearly, but not entirely, impossible. This podcast will help you work better withContinue reading "32. Why naming is 99% impossible."
There is trouble brewing and it’s been brewing for a while. A crisis in copywriting that could end the creative services landscape as we know it. In this podcast, I discuss the looming creative crisis and after I’m done you will know what the solution is. It’s not hopeless. But like many things in crisis,Continue reading "31. Copywriting in Crisis"
Just in time for Halloween, a few scary stories from the agency and creative realm. Let these serve as cautionary tales for anyone who might be listening. There is blood. There are large hairy monsters. There is the potential for mayhem and death. Listen if you dare…
Part two of my conversation with strategist, author, and speaker, Peter Wilken. Peter is a world-renowned brand strategist, author, speaker, and Brand DNA Guru. He has been described by clients as a constructive disruptor, and is known by many as ‘The Dolphin Brand Man’. Peter helps give CEOs and their leadership teams clarity and confidenceContinue reading "29. Interview with Peter Wilken, Part Two."
Just in time for Halloween. Some very scary stories about clients I’ve met and worked for. There is blood. There are late dark nights. There is a very small man in an ill-fitting suit. There is ghosting. You get the picture. Please enjoy these scary stories. If you have a scary agency, design firm, orContinue reading "28. Scary Client Stories"
This was a real treat for me. Peter is a world-renowned brand strategist, author, speaker, and Brand DNA Guru. He has been described by clients as a constructive disruptor, and is known by many as ‘The Dolphin Brand Man’. Peter helps give CEOs and their leadership teams clarity and confidence in the strategic decisions theyContinue reading "27. Interview with Peter Wilken, Part One."
In some ways, you can treat a freelancer just like any full-time employee. And in other ways, they are very very different and require a different set of tools and skills to manage. This episode goes into the ways one can work with freelancers to get the best work. Warning: This episode contains a badContinue reading "26. Tips for working with a freelancer"
Good freelancers are hard to find. Freelance superstars are even harder. But after you listen to this episode, you may have an inside track to finding, evaluating, and hiring someone who will rock your world. On a freelance basis.
If you’ve never held a review of creative service firms in preparation for hiring one for an important project or a long-term relationship, this podcast breaks down the process and talks about things that work and things that can and will go very, very wrong if you are not careful. As the main image onContinue reading "24. Running a review."
Working with a creative service firm can often require a set budget and in a lot of cases, that budget is not small. Nor is it simple. There are lots of moving parts and pieces. And many decisions that will impact the bottom line. It’s easy to spend more than you intended if you areContinue reading "23. The Cheat Codes To Saving Money."
Being a client and working with creative teams is different today than it was a few years back. In a post-covid world, you are more likely to be directing creative people from their spare bedrooms than the boardroom. In Episode 22, we offer up a few ideas on how to make clienting remotely work betterContinue reading "22. Remote clienting"
Sometimes it’s easier to know what to do in a creative presentation when you already know what not to do. So here’s a podcast on how to NOT deliver feedback. And why bad feedback is so damaging to the creative process. No judgments. No shame. Just some good insights to pass along from years inContinue reading "21. The Bad Feedback Episode."
In the second half of our discussion, Doug talks about the economics surrounding photography and some of the benefits of working with real professionals. See Doug’s Work at douglaslevy.com or on Instagram at @douglevy
As a client, you may someday need to motivate creative folks to do better work or take on a larger challenge. This podcast will help you understand what motivates creative people and what demotivates them as well.
In part one of this interview, Doug and I discuss the red flags of working with clients on new photo projects and the skills Doug has gained by being a professional baseball umpire that he applies to his work in photography, daily. Hint: Very few people boo Doug or throw popcorn at him at workContinue reading "Episode 18: Interview with Doug Levy, Photographer"
How many issues do you have to work on to improve the relationship you have with your creative service firm? This quiz will help you figure that out. Have a paper and pencil ready (unless you’re driving) and follow along.
JR and I go way back and his perspective is super valuable for the clienting podcast. He started out on the account side, so he has worked with both clients and creatives. Then he (somewhat unexpectedly) moved west to follow a dream and ended up working his way up the ladder at Papa Murphy’s Pizza,Continue reading "16. John-Ryan (JR) Foster Interview"
Jane has a rich and varied career working on both the agency and the client-side. She’s one of the most knowledgeable and insightful creatives I know. In this episode, we talk about the difference between agency and client-side work, great client experiences, creating in-house agencies, costs, and more.
I’m on vacation this week so I’m providing a repeat episode of a previous interview we did with Tim Brunelle of Land-O-Lakes. Thanks and enjoy.
Before you can select an agency, you need to know and acknowledge a few key things about yourself. Not just about the capabilities you want, although that’s important. But it’s also about the way you work and how your brand operates and what is really critical to your business. Transcript: Oh, Hey, Hey, you’re probablyContinue reading "13. Know thyself."