# Creative Communications Decisions

Decision frameworks for creative production, resourcing, and quality management.

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## 1. In-House vs Agency vs Freelance

**Context**: Who should create your creative assets.

| Option | When to Choose | Trade-offs |
|--------|----------------|------------|
| **In-house team** | High volume, consistent needs, brand intimacy matters | Fixed cost, capacity limits, skill constraints |
| **Agency partner** | Major campaigns, specialized skills, scale flexibility | Cost, onboarding, less brand intimacy |
| **Freelance/contractors** | Specific skills, overflow capacity, budget constraints | Management overhead, consistency risk |
| **Hybrid** | Core in-house, burst capacity external | Coordination complexity, style consistency |

**Decision criteria**: Volume, complexity, budget, need for brand consistency, required skills.

**Red flags**: Agency for routine work, in-house for rare specialized needs, freelance with no quality control.

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## 2. Production Investment Level

**Context**: How much to invest in a given piece of creative.

| Option | When to Choose | Trade-offs |
|--------|----------------|------------|
| **High production (pro shoot, studio)** | Hero assets, major campaigns, long shelf life | Expensive, slow, high stakes |
| **Medium production (prosumer)** | Regular content, moderate visibility | Balance of quality and cost |
| **Low production (DIY, user-style)** | Social content, authenticity matters, testing | May look amateur, limited polish |
| **User-generated** | Social proof, authenticity, scale | Quality variance, rights issues |

**Decision criteria**: Visibility/importance, budget, platform context, authenticity needs.

**Red flags**: High production for ephemeral social, low production for brand campaigns, mismatched investment to impact.

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## 3. Creative Testing Approach

**Context**: How to test and validate creative before scaling investment.

| Option | When to Choose | Trade-offs |
|--------|----------------|------------|
| **Concept testing (qual)** | Early stage, understanding why, complex ideas | Slow, small sample, doesn't predict in-market |
| **A/B testing (in-market)** | Have distribution, need quantitative signal | Needs traffic, tests execution not concept |
| **Focus groups** | Deep understanding, observe reactions | Expensive, groupthink risk, not in context |
| **Ship and measure** | Fast-moving, reversible, learning culture | Risk of failure, no pre-validation |

**Decision criteria**: Investment level, available audience, timeline, risk tolerance.

**Red flags**: No testing for major campaigns, extensive testing for low-stakes content, testing as excuse to delay.

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## 4. Revision Round Limits

**Context**: How many rounds of feedback and revision to allow.

| Option | When to Choose | Trade-offs |
|--------|----------------|------------|
| **One round** | Simple assets, trusted creators, tight timeline | Less polish, requires good briefs |
| **Two rounds (standard)** | Most projects, reasonable refinement | Balance of quality and efficiency |
| **Three+ rounds** | Complex/high-stakes, many stakeholders | Slow, expensive, diminishing returns |
| **Unlimited (until approved)** | Rare critical assets, perfectionism required | Scope creep, cost overruns, team burnout |

**Decision criteria**: Complexity, stakes, timeline, budget, stakeholder count.

**Red flags**: Unlimited rounds as default, one round with unclear briefs, rounds as relationship management not quality.

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## 5. Platform Prioritization

**Context**: Which platform to design for first when creating multi-channel creative.

| Option | When to Choose | Trade-offs |
|--------|----------------|------------|
| **Highest volume/spend** | Performance marketing, clear primary channel | May not be most creative-friendly |
| **Most constrained** | Design within constraints, adapt outward | Limits creative ambition |
| **Most creative-friendly** | Hero creative, showcase quality | May not adapt well to constrained channels |
| **Simultaneous (modular)** | High-volume, system approach | Complex production, coordination heavy |

**Decision criteria**: Where most impressions/impact, creative constraints, production efficiency.

**Red flags**: Designing for print then adapting to digital, ignoring primary channel, forcing fit where it doesn't work.

---

## 6. Brand Flexibility

**Context**: How strictly to apply brand guidelines.

| Option | When to Choose | Trade-offs |
|--------|----------------|------------|
| **Strict adherence** | Core brand touchpoints, consistency critical | May limit creative expression |
| **Guided flexibility** | Campaigns within brand, thoughtful deviation | Requires judgment, review needed |
| **Channel-specific rules** | Different contexts need different treatment | Complexity, version sprawl |
| **Brand evolution moment** | Refreshing brand, testing new directions | Risk, may dilute equity |

**Decision criteria**: Brand maturity, touchpoint importance, strategic context.

**Red flags**: Rigid rules that prevent good creative, so flexible there's no brand, inconsistency without strategy.

---

## 7. Video Length Strategy

**Context**: How long video content should be.

| Option | When to Choose | Trade-offs |
|--------|----------------|------------|
| **6-15 seconds** | Paid social, bumpers, awareness | Limited story, simple message only |
| **30-60 seconds** | Traditional spots, social ads, complete message | Higher production, attention demands |
| **2-5 minutes** | Explainers, tutorials, consideration content | Requires interest, drop-off risk |
| **Long-form (10+ min)** | Deep education, entertainment, engaged audience | Major commitment, niche use |

**Decision criteria**: Platform, objective, audience intent, distribution.

**Red flags**: Long video for interruption contexts, short video for complex explanations, ignoring platform norms.

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## 8. Localization Approach

**Context**: How to adapt creative for different markets.

| Option | When to Choose | Trade-offs |
|--------|----------------|------------|
| **Translation only** | Text-heavy, universal visuals, budget constraints | May miss cultural nuance |
| **Transcreation** | Creative concepts need adaptation, culturally sensitive | More expensive, slower |
| **Local creation** | Market-specific needs, local expertise available | Higher cost, potential inconsistency |
| **Global creative** | Universal appeal, efficiency priority | May not resonate locally |

**Decision criteria**: Market importance, cultural distance, budget, brand flexibility.

**Red flags**: Translation for culturally specific content, local creation without brand governance, assuming universal appeal.

---

## 9. Asset Lifecycle Management

**Context**: How long creative assets should be used before refresh.

| Option | When to Choose | Trade-offs |
|--------|----------------|------------|
| **Evergreen (refresh annually)** | Core brand assets, non-trendy content | Requires timeless design |
| **Campaign-length** | Campaign-specific, dated references | Clear end, wasted investment |
| **Performance-based** | Run until performance declines | Requires monitoring, may fatigue |
| **Seasonal/event-based** | Holiday, event-tied content | Built-in expiration, annual reuse |

**Decision criteria**: Content type, performance tracking capability, refresh budget.

**Red flags**: Dated creative still running, constant refresh without performance justification, no lifecycle planning.

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## 10. Quality Control Process

**Context**: How to ensure creative quality before publication.

| Option | When to Choose | Trade-offs |
|--------|----------------|------------|
| **Minimal (creator self-review)** | Low stakes, trusted creators, speed priority | Quality risk, errors slip through |
| **Peer review** | Moderate stakes, team structure, catch obvious issues | Time cost, still may miss things |
| **Dedicated QA** | High volume, high stakes, quality critical | Bottleneck, cost |
| **Multi-stage** | Major campaigns, multiple review types needed | Slow, complex, may over-process |

**Decision criteria**: Stakes, volume, error tolerance, resources.

**Red flags**: No QC for high-visibility content, excessive QC for low-stakes, QC as bottleneck not enabler.
