Things to Look For When Choosing the Perfect Brand Agency in Malaysia
Maybe you’ve thought about rebranding your company. 🤔
Or maybe, you’ve got an idea for a branding campaign which you want to plan, execute, monitor, and evaluate. ♟️
In that case, it’s time to start looking for a brand agency in Malaysia. 🏢
Brand agencies are professional partners who help serve your business in all areas related to your brand. Ultimately, their goal is to use branding to grow your business.
In this age, there are a sea of existing brand agencies in Malaysia. Too many choices leads to analysis paralysis. As such, it’s extremely important for you to choose the right one wisely.
After all, you’ll be working with your hired agency for at least a few months.
Moreover, you’ll be using valuable time to talk to the agency at meetings, discussions, reading and replying to their emails. So, take your time to choose the right agency carefully.
With that said, let’s get into the meat of this article.
How To Find A Branding Agency in Malaysia
- Online Search
Google is a library of EVERYTHING.
You want to learn about ballet dancing? 💃 Bam! It’s there. Want to learn how to become a Hollywood actor? 😎 It’s also there!
In the same way, a lot of marketing and brand agencies in Malaysia can also be found on search engines.
You can use specific keywords pertaining to your location or campaign to help refine your search results. An example of such keywords include: ‘brand audit in Klang’ or ‘digital branding in Penang’.
These keywords will help you narrow down your search.
- Databases & Networks
Does your company have a membership in any networks or databases? 💻
If you do, it’s a good idea to source for brand agencies there. An example of such networks are: SAP Ariba or The Drum’s RAR.
In fact, you may even get contacts faster from the networks you’ve joined than through online search.
- Successful Campaigns
This is a good way to find a brand agency in Malaysia. 🇲🇾
Have you read about a successful brand campaign on the news? Shortlist them and have a think about it. 🤔
Here are a few credible local websites to keep up with the latest news in the branding industry: Marketing Interactive, Marketing Magazine, and Advertising.my.
Before doing that, it’d be wise to check if the agency has any work experience in your industry.
Now that you know the best ways to start looking, I’ll show you some important points to consider when shortlisting for a brand agency in Malaysia.
Top 8 Factors to Consider When Choosing A Branding Agency in Malaysia
- Core Abilities & Skills
Many creative agencies offer a broad range of services. But each agency has their own core abilities, while their other skills are either new or still developing.
You can determine the strengths of an agency based on the ‘About Us’ page of their website, which consists of the profiles of their team members. 👨👨👧👦
Take your time to carefully assess the roles and responsibilities of each of their team members.
You can also review each of their team’s personal profiles on LinkedIn to gain a better understanding of their team, observe the skills they have and pay attention to their portfolios which are uploaded on their LinkedIn profile.
For instance, if the agency’s team mainly consists of senior-level web developers, and very few copywriters and graphic designers, their strength probably lies in web development, and not so much in creative work. 🌈
- Portfolio
Whilst doing your research, look up the agency’s portfolio page on their website.
As you scroll through their page, pay close attention to the agency’s level of creativity and innovation in their work. But don’t stop there, go a step further.
Here’s my question to you: “would you invest in something creative that doesn’t yield any ROI for your biz?” 🤔
I bet you won’t. Neither would I. Why? Because creativity is only one half of branding. The other half lies in strategy and analytical thinking. 🧠
You need a complete approach to branding: creativity and strategy. So, don’t just look at creativity. But it’s equally important to track the results the agency has helped their clients achieve.
If you’re looking for an agency whose strengths lie in creativity and strategy, you’d probably enjoy working with us. To prove it, you can check out previous portfolios we’ve worked on here.
Here are some questions to ponder after reviewing the agency’s portfolio:
- Are their client’s designs consistent with their company message?
- Are you impressed with the agency’s work?
- Are their client’s campaign results impressive?
- Agency Awards
Has the agency won any awards? 🏆 This is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a brand agency in Malaysia. Why?
It’s because: The agency’s client reviews on their website can be faked. But awards do not lie. 🙅♀️
Awards show that the agency is capable of producing outstanding work for their clients and are well-equipped to push the marketing and advertising industry forward with their innovation and creativity.
You can try finding out which campaign won them the awards. This is where Google comes in handy.
In 2016, Brand360 was awarded the APAC Insider Business Awards as the Best Agency for Marketing Strategy Development in Malaysia.
Our expertise lies in marketing and brand strategy. If that’s what you’re looking for, then click this link to learn how you can reach out to us.
- Branding
If the agency claims they’re brand experts, they should be able to prove it.
They must be capable of producing good work for their clients, and also, do a great job at branding their own agency. 🏢
It’s not easy to do both. That’s why this is the best way to test the agency’s strength and efficiency. If they’re highly capable of doing both, then you’ll know that you’ve struck gold. ✨
In summary, quality agencies will always leave quality digital footprints. You can easily assess how well they brand themselves by looking at their:
- Social media posts
- Website
- Blog posts
- Advertising
- Brand designs
- Efficiency & Results-Oriented
A brand agency’s role is to find the right solution for your brand.
As such, they need to be extremely good listeners. The ideal brand agency in Malaysia will take time to learn about your business through brand audits and interviews.
A good brand agency in Malaysia will always have a clearly-defined process to achieve your business objectives. 📈📊
They should also be able to offer expertise and insights by understanding your pain points, finding the right solution, and then tailoring the deliverables according to the needs of your brand. Here at Brand 360 Degree, we strive to do just that. 💡
Most agencies offer similar services when it comes to branding. But industrial expertise is what differentiates one agency from another.
For instance, one agency may be an expert in the F&B industry, but less experienced than another agency in the B2B industry.
In this case, it’d be wise to choose a brand agency in Malaysia that has experience in your industry.
Hiring a brand agency could be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make as a business owner or CMO. So, why not give it a go today?
- The Size of The Agency
Does size matter when choosing a brand agency? Yes, it does. 👍
If you’re a super large global brand in need of a comprehensive rebrand, it’d be wise to look for a larger brand agency.
Larger agencies would have the resources and workforce necessary to cater to the needs of your brand.
On the other hand, if you’re a smaller brand, hiring a large branding firm can still help you rebrand your company. But you may lack the more hands-on attention from a smaller brand agency in Malaysia. 🇲🇾
So, consider these factors carefully together with the size and influence of your company.
- Price
Realistically, the costs of hiring a larger brand agency would likely cost more than hiring a boutique brand agency in Malaysia. 💸
Price obviously matters, but it should not be the only factor to consider in not your decision making process.
Remember, by investing in branding, you are investing in your entire company’s image. 🎭 As such, it’s a worth-it investment, especially for the long-term goals of your company!
To find out if you can afford an agency, you should discuss payment schedules and price of revisions upfront with the agency. This is to prevent any surprises from popping up along the way.
On your part, you should plan your marketing budget in detail, and then carefully to consider how much you can afford to pay.
- Communication Skills
There’s this saying among Chinese people: “you can’t expect a chicken 🐔 to communicate with a duck.” 🦆
Like most friendships, you’re likely to gel better with some people, and not so much with others. This is also true in professional relationships.
So, you’ll need to choose a brand agency in Malaysia that is skilled at communicating, and good at articulating thoughts and ideas. You can evaluate their communication skills during pitch meetings.
Poor communication can cause a huge setback in your brand campaign, especially if you cannot communicate well with the agency. It leads to misunderstandings and unnecessary conflict. ⚔️
Aside from that, you should also consider the agency’s speed and punctuality in returning your calls, Whatsapp messages, and emails. 📫
To finish this section, here’s a final list of questions to evaluate your level of compatibility with the agency:
- What was your first impression based on the introductory email/call?
- Was the agency available most of the time when you called?
- Was there good chemistry between you and the agency?
- Did the agency explain a step-by-step process of how they work?
Wrapping it up…
Now comes the hard part: trust. 🤝
After you’ve selected your ideal brand agency, it’s time to trust their knowledge and expertise. 📚
During your research, you’ve most likely looked up their backgrounds and learned about their expertise and strengths.
By now, you should already have some form of reassurance that they’re qualified to do their job efficiently. After all, you chose them for a reason out of the many others, didn’t you?
So yes, it’s time to trust them to achieve the best results for your company. I know, it’s hard to place trust in someone, especially if you haven’t worked with them before.
But like in any other professional relationship, trust is key to ensuring good working relations with any brand agency in Malaysia.
Brand agencies are your employees. The results of your business are their bread and butter. As such, you can trust that brand agencies will strive to do what’s best for your brand.
Bearing these factors in mind, you now have a rough idea on how to choose the right brand agency in Malaysia.
If you’re interested to learn more about us, you can contact us here.
For now, I wish you all the best in growing your business! 🙂
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