A performance creative agency quote depends on the strategy, production, iteration and rights your brand needs. A monthly fee on its own tells you very little. EVOKE agrees scope before work begins; this guide does not publish a fixed EVOKE price list. It gives you a practical way to understand a proposal, compare it fairly and see what your total creative budget needs to cover.
Start with the work your team needs covered
Two proposals can promise the same number of ads and involve very different work. One might include edits from footage you supply. Another might include customer research, new concepts, scripts, creator coordination, filming, design and ongoing review with your media buyer.
Before asking for a quote, describe the gap. Do you need production capacity, stronger creative strategy, a wider mix of formats, or someone to manage the full cycle? Include what your team can already do well. Paying for duplicated responsibilities rarely makes the partnership simpler.
Then give the agency enough context to scope sensibly: products, markets, languages, campaign goals, existing footage, internal approval capacity and the testing budget available. A useful quote explains what can be delivered within that setup.
The main factors that change the cost
Strategy and senior involvement
Clarify the research, planning and performance review included. Ask who writes the briefs and who makes decisions when a concept underperforms. Regular access to an experienced strategist is a different commitment from a kickoff meeting followed by production alone.
Concepts and production complexity
New concepts need development. Filming, locations, products, talent, editing and design each add work. Existing footage can reduce the need for new shoots, but it still needs to support the message. More formats or languages also change the production scope.
Creators, rights and revisions
For paid-ad UGC, confirm creator fees and the agreed uses of the content. Ask about paid channels, usage duration, territories, raw footage, edit permissions and any creator-account advertising arrangement. Establish how many feedback rounds are included and what triggers a new production cost.
Ongoing iteration
A retainer should explain what happens after the first delivery. Does it include new concepts, revisions to existing ads, performance reviews, or a defined combination? Confirm the cadence and the information your team must supply.
Build a total budget, not just an agency-fee comparison
Use this planning formula to separate the items in each proposal. It is a budget structure, not a recommended spend ratio.
Total planned acquisition budget = creative service fee + agreed production and creator costs + agreed licences or tools + media-buying fee, if applicable + advertising spend.
Show one-off and recurring items separately. Check which costs are already included so they are not counted twice, and ask how taxes, currency, shipping or reshoots are handled where relevant. Keep contingency visible rather than hiding it inside an assumed per-ad cost.
Media buying and advertising spend are different lines. A fee for managing campaigns does not tell you how much is available to spend on distribution. Likewise, a creative engagement does not automatically include campaign management. EVOKE can work with an existing buyer or scope creative and media buying together.
A quote-comparison template you can copy
Send the same worksheet to every agency. Ask them to mark each item as included, separately priced or supplied by your team, then add the limits and named owner.
| Scope item | What to record |
|---|---|
| Strategic input | Research, planning, review cadence and senior contact |
| New concepts | Definition, planned volume and approval process |
| Delivered assets | Formats, lengths, aspect ratios, languages and file types |
| Creators and filming | Sourcing, fees, products, locations and production responsibilities |
| Usage and ownership | Channels, duration, territories, raw files and any restrictions |
| Iteration | What can change, feedback rounds and production needed for new ideas |
| Media buying | Included, separately scoped, or handled by your existing buyer |
| Commercial terms | Start date, minimum commitment, notice, payment and out-of-scope costs |
Add three final fields: the total recurring fee, the estimated one-off costs, and the work still required from your team. An apparently cheaper proposal can leave you with more internal coordination. That may be a reasonable tradeoff, provided you make it deliberately.
Why cost per ad needs context
Imagine two fictional proposals. One includes three distinct concepts, each delivered with two opening variations. The other includes one concept with six opening variations. Both produce six assets. They answer different learning questions.
The first explores several reasons someone might buy. The second focuses on the execution of one reason. Neither is automatically the better choice: the right mix depends on what is already known and what your next test needs to establish.
Ask agencies to separate concepts, variations and technical adaptations. A square export of a vertical ad can be useful, but it is not necessarily a new hypothesis. Counting all files as equivalent makes it harder to understand what you are buying.
Also ask how an asset becomes a testable ad: does the price include the script, footage, edit, copy, naming and handoff? A low cost for an unfinished component is not directly comparable with a complete delivery.
Where AI fits in the budget
AI can speed visual exploration and some production tasks. That does not remove the need to understand the customer, check accuracy, protect the brand and review the final work. Ask which parts of the workflow use AI and where real creators or filming are needed.
At EVOKE, the mix can include real creators, studio and location filming, existing assets and AI-assisted creative. Scope follows the job each piece needs to do. A genuine product demonstration may need filming; a new visual treatment may be suited to AI. The proposal should make those choices understandable.
How to scope an EVOKE engagement
EVOKE combines strategy, concepts, ad production and iterations, with direct senior involvement. Our particular experience in beauty & wellness informs the questions we ask, while the production plan reflects your products and commercial priorities.
Bring a few current ads, your main acquisition challenge and an outline of the people already involved. We can identify the responsibilities EVOKE would take on and what should remain with your team or media buyer.
For context on the work, explore our DTC beauty case and wellness case. Case results help explain past work; they are not a forecast of what a new engagement will deliver.
Questions you might ask
Does EVOKE have a fixed public monthly price?
This guide does not present a fixed EVOKE fee. Strategy, deliverables, creators, filming and any media-buying responsibilities are scoped around the engagement before work begins.
Are creator fees and paid usage rights always included?
Do not assume they are. Ask for a written breakdown of creator production, the permitted uses of the content and any renewal or extension costs. The proposal should specify what is included.
Can we keep our existing media buyer?
Yes. EVOKE can provide creative alongside your current media buyer. If you need both services, creative and media buying can be scoped together, with advertising spend identified separately.
Get clear on the scope your brand needs
Tell us about your current creative, your team and the growth challenge you want to solve. We will start with the work that needs to happen.
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