Key metrics highlighted were:

• Staff costs to fee income ratio at no higher than 60-65% (with approx. 20% on overheads, leaving you with 20% profit) This has fluctuated over the years, with hybrid working potentially lowering overheads to 15%, meaning you can spend up to 65% on staff and still make a decent profit, but like most ratios work out the best balance for your business.
• Break-even point – how much income do you need to cover your overheads – plus your target – then you can see clearly what you need to convert from the pipeline.
• Utilisation rates – how much time is spent on billable work by each person in the business? 
• Recovery rates – how much of actual billable time is billed to a client. This is a real warning flag metric – the canary down the coalmine. Not billing enough here will drag profits down throughout the business. Do you know what this looks like in your business? There are many reasons for low recovery rates. Improving them adds directly to your bottom line. More guidance here.
• What do the next 90-days look like? Booked revenue needs to be accrued over the time you’re going to complete the work. Looking at the next 90-days will mean you can plan to have the resources to cover the confirmed work, or make appropriate decisions if you don’t have the work in.
• Working out your liquidity ratio – having around 3-4 months of committed overheads in the bank is a good place to be.

 New business and your pipeline

• We know from the Annual Survey Report that clients are taking longer to commit to projects – this in turn has led to businesses needing more potential in their pipeline to convert to the number of live projects needed.
• One expert uses a strength test of confirmed work plus prospects being around 10 x monthly costs – this shows a business is working reasonably hard to win the next project.
• Setting new business targets should be done on an individual business basis to encompass the nuances around repeat clients.
• One member shared that they’ve tracked the various conversion stages throughout the pipeline and that’s helped them to see where they need to focus on. 

Benchmarking against other design businesses

• Benchmarking staff salaries, hourly rates, utilisation and recovery rates were all highlighted by members as key aspects of the DBA Annual Survey they use often in their businesses.
• It can feel isolating running a design business, the data in the report helps you to feel like you are not operating in isolation – to be able to benchmark against the industry is invaluable to running the business.
• The DBA Annual Survey is open now for you to add your data – don’t miss this chance to contribute. The more members that take part, the more representative the survey is. And the only way to get hold of the exclusive online comparison website is by taking part. If you need more information or are struggling to access the survey please contact Christina Warren for your unique survey link.

There was much, much more covered in the hour – I hope you find these notes helpful. Join our next meeting on Monday 3 June, 4-5pm BST, look out for an email with the details in a few weeks.

We’ve captured the conversation highlights from the all the Members’ Forums which have taken place and they can all be found here.

As the world around us continues to change at breakneck speed, one thing remains constant; the ability of design to create solutions and reinterpret the challenges into new ways of thinking and shaping the way forward.

The DBA Design Effectiveness Awards are the most rigorous standard for measuring the effectiveness of design, rewarding entries that have demonstrated the value of investing in design to drive business and societal success.

It’s the difference design makes.

Over the coming years, we’ll see the power that design has to help navigate the biggest shifts our society faces – how businesses can remain relevant and competitive as major changes take place to how business itself is done, how societies can manage and thrive in the environmental and technological shifts we stand on the edge of.

Throughout this, the DBA will continue to champion and promote, celebrate and reward the achievements of our industry; an industry which continues to punch above its weight.

Right now, we invite you to celebrate client and agency partnerships that have been shortlisted for this year’s DBA Design Effectiveness Awards. The case studies behind these titles listed below contain a wealth of creative expertise and savvy business insight which have propelled their work from simply delivering on brief, to magnifying what was possible, often from humble beginnings.

It has never been more important for all those that work in design to understand the role they play in shaping a future that matters for us all. This autumn we will be celebrating the winners and revealing who has won Bronze, Silver or Gold, at a live event packed with talks, debates, films and dinner discussions. We want you all to join us; a meeting of the creative and business minds that make our industry shine. We’ll be announcing further details in the next few weeks so gather your valued team and client/agency partners to join us at this inaugural event celebrating effective design in all its guises.

Whether you have won this year, in previous years, or are yet to articulate and prove the measured effectiveness of your work, this event will be for every design team that knows they can make a difference. Keep an eye out for more information in the coming weeks.

DBA Design Effectiveness Awards 2024: Winners shortlist

Founded in 1989, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards recognise impactful, wide-ranging examples of design that have had a tangible and measurable impact upon business and societal success. Judged by a broad range of business leaders and entered jointly by client and designer, the Awards draw focus onto the role design plays in enhancing people’s lives and delivering competitive advantage for business. Congratulations to the winning agency and client partnerships and thank you to our fantastic judges who brought their insight and experience to rigorously judge the 2024 entries. Find out more information about the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards and view the 2024 judging panel.

“The DBA Design Effectiveness Awards provide clear evidence of how design drives better business results, and how it has the ability to improve lives and shape a better world.

This year’s entries demonstrated solutions to a truly diverse set of challenges and once again the distinguished groups of judges had to work hard to pick the winners. The judging panels consisted of an incredible cross section of Business, Marketing and Design leadership, ensuring that we had a diverse set of perspectives when evaluating the entries. As Chair of these judging panels, it was truly an honour to witness the quality and depth of the discussions triggered by each entry.

The shortlisted winners provide clear and compelling evidence that design can and does deliver value, improving business results, positively impacting society and improving lives. They can be extremely proud of the recognition they have received.”

Sean Carney, Chair of the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards Judging Panel 

Firstly, we need to consider the context. 86% of clients consider themselves to be working in a more pressurised environment than five years ago.

This often means tighter budgets, smaller client teams, a more ruthless focus on return on investment and the feeling of having to do more with less. Consequently, clients are generally looking for greater levels of proactivity and added value from their agencies. They rely on agencies more and more to be their eyes and ears, monitoring competitors and trends.

36% of clients would like their agency to ‘push boundaries’ more in terms of creativity that differentiates and disrupts. This is an environment where clients are bound to be more demanding of their agencies. Is it any wonder, then, that fewer clients are giving an unqualified ‘Yes’ to the value for money question? However, before we all begin to relax about the issue and simply blame the wider context, there are some specific factors that we should take seriously.

There are a range of issues, regularly raised by clients in our interviews, that negatively impact upon their perceptions of value for money. These fall into three areas. Firstly, those related directly to costs.

Some clients accept that front-end conceptual work is charged at a premium but question why other types of work, more implementation in character, appear to be charged at a similar rate. Other clients complain of a lack of transparency around how long some tasks really take and who is working on them. Clients also comment that the gold standard approach isn’t always necessary. Some tasks are in the ‘just get it done’ category and don’t need a juggernaut process. They talk about the need for greater pragmatism and a demonstration that the agency is ‘on our side.’

Another bugbear is misalignment on the scope of work and disagreement about what is covered in the cost and what isn’t. This often comes down to a lack of adequate up-front discussions and forward planning. Another concern is that the agency’s day-to-day client contacts may feel that their agency represents good value for money, but senior management disagree. There is a failure to show senior management the value of creativity and the return on investment it can bring.

The second area that affects value for money is the quality of client service. No matter how good the end result, if the process of getting there was painful, then perceptions of value for money will suffer. Clients often mention the difference between simply managing a project versus really driving it. ‘Driving it’ means taking ownership, being totally on top of every aspect, excelling at communications and being forceful with the client when necessary. Failing to drive projects in this way results in more client input being needed. Client time is now at a premium, so anything that impinges on that is a negative in clients’ eyes.

Clients are particularly sensitive to any indication that their business is perhaps not quite as valued as it used to be. Clients often mention any sort of drop in responsiveness or proactivity levels. Another indication is when agency leaders are no longer checking in as much with clients and that feeling of strategic oversight has lapsed. Also, if the agency is obviously doing well and winning new clients, but client service is seen to suffer in any way, then clients can be quick to believe that the agency’s attention and effort is going into new clients at the expense of existing ones.

The third area affecting perceptions of value for money concerns final delivery. The most serious client criticisms are around the promise of the original concept not being fully realised. In other words, it all seemed great in the studio but was it really workable? There is a consequent feeling that the agency either weren’t honest enough in their explanation of the original concept or weren’t realistic enough about its practical application. Unforeseen production issues and problems with third parties are all capable of causing strained agency/client relationships and the accusation that the agency is ‘hiding problems’.

Value for money, therefore, is a complex area and in effect, clients are judging the fully rounded client/agency relationship, not just the work and its cost.

Based on 675 in-depth client interviews, the report offers insight into client expectations and concerns, their relationships with agencies, views on agency new business activity, pitches, websites, marketing content and more. 
 
During the meeting, three key themes of the report were explored in more detail:

• A decrease, over the past 10 years, in client’s perception of agency value for money.
• An increase in in-housing design capabilities.
• The distinction between managing projects and driving projects, with clients wanting to see more driving.

Perceptions of value for money
In 2014, 66% of clients considered their agency to be good value for money. In 2024 that has fallen to 45%. The important context behind that change is the more financially and time pressurised environment that clients now consider themselves to be working in.
 
There are three areas that regularly affect these perceptions:

• Costs – clients understand that conceptual, strategic ‘front end’ work comes at a premium (and this is often where clients perceive the value to be), but feel that often implementation work is charged at a similar rate, without transparency about how long tasks take and who’s working on them. Planning well to avoid misalignment of scope and what has been agreed upon in costs is important. Additionally, there is a feeling that the gold standard, full process approach isn’t necessary every time – agencies may feel that this point is debatable – but being a bit more pragmatic and realising where some projects require just ‘good enough’ is a factor for clients. 
• Quality of client service – when clients are more time pressured than ever before, having to spend lots of time managing things impacts perceptions of value. More on that below.
• Final delivery – problems can arise when what was delivered isn’t quite what was promised in the original concept and the agency hasn’t been honest or realistic enough about its practical application. Additionally, sometimes unseen ‘third party’ problems can create strain, and agencies can be seen to be hiding problems.

In-housing
46% of clients have access to some sort of in-house creative resource, and 22% of those who didn’t stated that their company was considering it. This is often motivated by wanting to save costs, and perceived comfort factors such as it being easier to deal with problems internally if work goes wrong, or a brief is disputed. In-house teams also understand the organisation, its culture and politics and how it operates, and potentially the brand and the market a bit better than an agency can.
 
However, the picture here isn’t one of agency vs in-house; 80% of clients would like to see better collaboration and 95% of clients with in-house capabilities still see the value in using agencies for particular challenges.
 
Clients often would like an agency’s fresh perspective and wider reference points, when working on bigger, more strategic projects. Agencies should focus on explaining where their value lies and building experience of dovetailing effectively with in-house teams.
 
Driving rather than managing
The biggest differentiator between agencies in terms of the experience of working with them is the quality of client servicing. No matter how good the end result is, if the process of getting there was too painful, it’s not considered worth it.
 
48% of clients believe that their agency’s client management is too transactional. Design agency account management can lack assertiveness. Clients would like agencies to be bolder – to drive the project, own it, be on top of it, push the client, tell them when they get things wrong and continue to offer opinions and thoughts and be keen to impress. Agencies are thought of as the experts, and clients want them to be! It’s not about being aggressive, it’s about being organised and having a defined approach to client servicing and client development.
 
62% of clients can recall periods where the agency is obviously over-stretched and under-resourced, and these cracks show. This can show up as a drop in responsiveness, a lack of proactivity, or a lack of checking in from senior agency people. Active engagement is vital for both successful project delivery, and for consideration for future, bigger projects.
 
It is worth having a defined approach to client service, based in understanding the client’s journey with you and the interaction points between you, as well as internal guiding principles of how you communicate, what you do, what you don’t do, etc. This can be really helpful in pitches too, as you can present your approach and reassure clients at that stage that you have thought through both their experience with you, and how you take ownership of projects.
 

There was much, much more covered in the hour – you really had to be there. Do make sure you join us in our next DBA Members’ Forum on Tuesday 7 May at 4pm BST, look out for an email from me in a few weeks with more details. If you would like to attend, get in touch here. 

We’ve captured the conversation highlights from the all the Members’ Forums which have taken place and they can all be found here.

“Produced by Up to the Light, in association with the DBA, the ‘What Clients Think’ report is an indispensable tool for anyone who delivers or commissions design. If you’re agency-side, it will arm you with inside knowledge of what your clients want from you this year. While for those client-side, it’s a unique opportunity to see how your concerns and priorities compare to your peers.

To mark its tenth incarnation, this year’s report also provides a look back across the last decade, covering a time before Covid and even the EU Referendum. Think how much our businesses have been through and changed since then. What trends have unfolded and what can we learn from them to strengthen our client/agency relationships now and in the future?”

Access the report

Watch a recording of the report launch

Watch a snippet from the launch

Further resources for DBA members

The Report’s author Jonathan Kirk also joined us for our April Members’ Forum to discuss how agency/client relationships are evolving, delving further into the report’s findings. You can read a summary of the conversation here. 

 

Get in touch – if you are a DBA member who would like to talk through issues you are facing, or if you are interested in becoming a member to attend monthly Members’ Forum such as this, you can schedule time in the DBA Membership Director’s Adam Fennelow’s diary.

New Designers has been showcasing the work of emerging design talent for nearly 40 years. Founded in 1985, the event has become the UK’s leading exhibition for up-and-coming designers, providing a platform for thousands of graduates to showcase their work and connect with industry professionals.

Explore the work of over 3,000 talented designers across a wide range of disciplines, from fashion and textiles to furniture and product design and discover the latest trends and innovations in the design industry. As the largest showcase of graduate designers in the country, ND offers an unrivalled opportunity for businesses to add such a high calibre of fresh designers to their talent pool. Find the next great addition to your team and streamline your recruiting process.

Week 1: 26 – 29 June 2024 

Fashion & Costume, Contemporary Design Crafts, Textiles, Ceramics, Glass, Jewellery & Precious Metalwork 

Week 2: 3 – 6 July 2024

Furniture, Product Design, Industrial & Spatial Design, Graphic Design, Illustration & Animation, Motion & Digital Arts, Game Design

Since launching the podcast two years ago, DBA Expert and host Claire Blyth has interviewed over 50 of the world’s leading designers, creatives and strategists about their lives in design. 

The podcast lifts the lid on their careers, starting each episode by asking when they first discovered that design was a ‘thing’ they could base a career on.

For some it was the influence and impact of graffiti or album cover art, for others it was a curiosity around packaging design, something else that sparked their curiosity –  many came to it quite late. This is partly why the podcast offers such valuable insights, especially for young people navigating their lives in design, and hearing that it’s not always a linear journey into the exciting world of design.

The series is now back in its fifth season, and kicked off earlier this month with design legend Mary Lewis, co-founder of Lewis Moberly, who joins a host of other big names, such as Brian Collins and Pentagram’s Paula Scher, in sharing her life in design so far.

Mary, in her first-ever podcast interview, shared deep insights into her life, from growing up on a farm in Shropshire, teaching graphic design, discovering adland, and going on to launch the ground-breaking design studio Lewis Moberly. “I was always fascinated by what went into brands to create them; the psychology that was involved really interested me,” reflects Mary during the podcast.

Her interview offers a unique glimpse into the thinking that has propelled her agency to have had such a significant impact within the design industry. “I’ve always been very self-motivated” reveals Mary, “I’m conscious of answering a brief, but I also have to answer to myself. That’s very important.”

Podcast guests this season

Catch up with Emily Rickard, CEO of BUCK, giving her take on the creative industries through the lens of production, fashion journalism, and reality TV, to leading BUCK where she works alongside some of the most talented artists in the world. “There’s a real curiosity built into the culture, which I think is wonderful,” she says, “everybody has the opportunity to learn; I’m still learning every day.”

Emily also points to BUCK’s work on the spectacular movie ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ as being a perfect tool to inspire the next generation of creatives (take a look here). “I’m really passionate about making sure that we continue to push diversity in our industry,” says Emily. “There’s so much untapped potential and talent out there,” she adds, recommending to young creatives that they should “find their own style” and “don’t be afraid to reach out to the companies that inspire you and see if there’s internships available.”

We also have Hamish Campbell, VP Executive Creative Director of Pearlfisher New York, sharing how he came to design fairly late but forged a path that led him to be approached by Pearlfisher to be part of their New York office. He also shares insights on how design students in the UK and the US differ.

Upcoming interviews promise even more valuable insights from industry figures such as jkr’s co-founder Ian Ritchie, Joy Nazzari, founder of DNCO, Joshua Breidenback, co-founder of Rice Studios, and Ekaterina Solomeina, co-founder of Future London Academy.

Subscribe and download ‘My Life in Design’ and please share so the podcast can help inform, educate and inspire young designers to achieve fulfilling careers in design.

One member focused on the development of new business in international markets:

• A realisation that there are too many agencies in the UK competing for the same work led one member to ramp up their work with international clients that ultimately enabled them to open a London office.
• The unique appeal of British design was noted as a valuable asset in international markets.
• There are cultural challenges, and things can be lost in translation, pushing people to speak to each other has been key in overcoming issues. Though the increase in remote working has also meant building relationships from afar has been easier than it was pre-Covid.
• The Department for Business & Trade have a wealth of resources and support and you can find out who to contact in each region here.
• There was a question around how to overcome a lack or experience in the market you’re entering. Answers around going back to the problem they need to solve and showing your expertise. Also, highlighting the fresh thinking you can bring to the table. 

Some other points were made in relation to new business:

• Investing in a dedicated marketing person has been key to one member being able to turn work away. If the marketing flywheel takes two years to get up and running smoothly, could a dedicated hire be the right way for your business to focus on marketing activity that will result in new business? There was mention of previously doing marketing in the gaps which presents all sorts of challenges.
• One member shared that they’ve found marketing much easier now they’ve repositioned and become more strategic – having a clear proposition and a great team to follow it through has led to their success. 
• This isn’t just something you do once and file it away, you’ll repeat this process of redefining your offer over and over. It’s also helped one member to have more confidence in their conversations with senior decision makers. 
• The trigger for repositioning was the risk around having too much work tied up with one client – if that work walks out of the door it’s very bad news.
• One DBA Expert suggested creating a marketing plan that you can sustain over time and that’s exactly what one member has done with their weekly newsletter that has a great reputation.
• Rather than solely focusing on differentiation, emphasis should be placed on being relevant to target audiences, a strategy deemed more effective in engaging potential clients by one DBA Expert.
• Re-watch last week’s webinar for expert advice on failsafe methods for new business success that Blair highlighted in the January Forum and you’ll find we covered emotional consistency in more detail. 

There was much, much more covered in the hour – you really had to be there. Do make sure you join us in our next DBA Members’ Forum on Monday 8 April at 4pm BST, look out for an email from me in a few weeks with more details. If you would like to attend, get in touch here. 

We’ve captured the conversation highlights from the all the Members’ Forums which have taken place and they can all be found here.