Working with Agencies

When I think of agencies, I have visions of Don Draper on Mad Men, pitching an ad campaign concept to a room full of clients over cocktails and cigarettes. The spirit of that world is still alive today, but the role and function of agencies has been profoundly impacted by digital media.

Traditionally, when photographers who’ve been in the industry for a while refer to “agencies,” they’re talking about advertising agencies dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising campaigns for larger national and multinational companies. For example, High Wide & Handsome in LA is an advertising agency that handles campaigns for food and beverage clients. As part of developing creative assets for these campaigns, they very likely hire freelance artists who fit each campaign’s needs.

But these days, agencies come in a lot of different sizes and offer a wide array of services. Everything from large-scale ad campaigns down to small niche social media content gigs, with a huge range of budgets in between. Some agencies are one-person operations. Others have offices across the globe. Some do PR, some create for national ad campaigns, some handle influencer partnerships, some do all of it. They might be called an advertising agency, a creative agency, a social media agency, a content studio. So many different names!

Regardless of the size and services, the core dynamic is the same. The agency is working on behalf of a brand to help develop creative assets to promote their products, and they’re the middle layer between you and that brand.

Maybe you’ve heard that if you’re brand new to photography, you shouldn’t be reaching out to agencies. It’s not true.

Maybe that was the case a decade ago, but today, even the major global agencies are working with creatives across the whole spectrum. From massive productions with elaborate studio sets and fifty people running around, all the way down to a person with a cell phone at a kitchen table making irresistible food videos.

Agencies book creative gigs all the time. Their need for new, fresh creative content only continues to increase as social media apps overtake traditional media for reaching audiences. Old marketing was about making one big campaign with a single message that appealed to the masses. Today’s campaigns might target five different demographics across seven different digital platforms. The internet is a bottomless pit for content, and as audiences fragment into niches, the volume of creative assets agencies need only keeps growing.

So if you know of agencies that represent the kinds of clients you want to serve, reach out! Cold pitches are normal in the agency world and they receive them all the time. Even if you’re newer to photography, you never know if the person you reach out to at an agency is looking for exactly the thing you do. The power of pitching is being at the right place at the right time.

Also remember that a ‘no’ today is not a ‘no’ forever. If they like your work and you’re not a fit for what they have going at the moment, they might pop your contact into a saved folder to reach out in the future.

One of the best parts of working with an agency is that if you land one agency and do great work for one of their clients, they’ll often bring other opportunities your way for their other clients.

Because in the agency world, if they have one food client, there’s a strong chance they have several. Agencies specialize in niches just like we do.

For example, there’s a local agency here in Phoenix that represents a number of different restaurants. They hired me to do photography for one of their clients, and afterward they hired me to do work for five other restaurants on their client list.

Building one good relationship at an agency can open the door to work with multiple brands you might never have accessed otherwise.

I have yet to meet someone who works for an agency and isn’t feeling stretched thin. This can be said for a lot of our clients, but agency folks especially. So as you build a relationship with them, find ways to save them time and make their lives easier.

The number one way to do that is through strong communication and being organized. I swear I’ve won more business because I’m reliable and that makes me more referable. They don’t have time to keep on top of you and make sure you’re following through. Agency folks love team players with a good attitude who take care of important details and do what they say they’re going to do, on time.

Reliability can genuinely outweigh photography skills at this level. When an agency contact is juggling six projects and five brands and thirty vendors, the photographer who consistently delivers on time and communicates clearly is worth their weight in gold.

If you’re going to work with agencies, there are a few terms worth knowing.

Creative Call. Similar to a discovery call. An in-person, phone, or video call where the agency shares more about the project with you and gauges your interest and fit. Might be with an Art Producer or Art Buyer (see below). The Creative Call is essentially a job interview, so approach it from that perspective.

Art Producer / Art Buyer. Roles at an agency whose job is to help find and recommend the best photographers, videographers, illustrators, and other creatives for a given project. They source and manage assets, handle rights, and coordinate with the creative team. These are often the people who first reach out to you when an agency is considering you for a job.

Bidding. The process of submitting an estimate for an agency job. If a Creative Call goes well, you might be asked to bid. Important to know that you’re most likely not the only photographer being asked to bid. It’s fairly standard for an agency to invite three or more photographers to a bid situation. You never fully know where you stand. Always give it your best shot, be professional, build the relationship, and recognize that even if you don’t win this one, a strong bid can position you for future opportunities.

Treatment. A more elaborate proposal document that agencies sometimes request as part of the bidding process. Treatments typically include things like location suggestions, mood boards, crew bios, references, your creative approach for the project, and a proposed production schedule. Treatments are their own topic and worth digging into more depth another time.

For larger agency jobs, don’t try to do it alone!

I’ve mentioned Wonderful Machine before in the CPG post as a great resource for pricing and estimating help. That advice doubles for agency work. When you’re bidding on a significant project, having someone experienced help you build the estimate and negotiate the terms can be worth more than the fee you pay them.

Agency work can be lucrative, but the contracts and negotiations are more complex than what you deal with as a direct-hire photographer for a blogger or a restaurant. Don’t hesitate to bring in help when the stakes are high enough!

And that’s the five people who hire food photographers! Bloggers, restaurants, magazines and online publications, CPG brands, and agencies. Five distinct client types with different dynamics, vocabulary, money conversations, and different roles in a sustainable food photography business.

Most working food photographers touch several of these client types over the course of a career. Bloggers as entry points and relationships. Restaurants as accessible early work and ongoing portfolio building. Editorial for credibility. CPG for the sustaining backbone. Agencies for the top end.

My hope is this series has given you a clearer map of the industry and the vocabulary to navigate it. The business side of this work matters as much as the craft side, and the more clearly you can see the landscape, the better decisions you can make about where to invest your energy.

Meanwhile, the slate is open for next week’s post. If you have a request for a topic to explore, drop it in the comments!

Cheers,

Joanie