Earlier in my career, I worked at a hybrid production company and agency. We ran campaigns with a lean team model: a producer and a creative team. When it came time to produce commercials and digital work, a line producer joined. The model was remarkably efficient, and it taught me a lot.
It's a model more brands should know about.
Some brands already have strategists in-house who have done the research, found the insights and built the strategic foundation. What they need next isn't more strategy. They need someone who can take that thinking, turn it into ideas, and produce the work fast and well.
For brands in that position, a full-service agency may not be the right fit for campaign work. What they need is smaller.
A lean campaign team usually looks like this:
In this model, the producer isn't just running logistics. They're the steward of the work. They protect the brand's interests, bid the work properly, make sure the money goes to the right places, and keep things moving.
The art and copy team guards the creative. The producer guards the budget and the process. Together, they cover what a much larger structure would.
I've been an account person and a project manager. I know exactly how valuable those roles are, and I'm not suggesting they don't matter. They matter enormously, in the right context.
But in this specific scenario, where the strategic thinking is already done, you may not need a separate project manager, strategist and account team on top of the people making the work.
This model only works under the right conditions.
It works when:
It doesn't work when:
This isn't a shortcut for filling gaps with junior talent. It takes people who have done this enough times to know what they're doing. And it depends entirely on the brand. Some need the full structure. Others have already built that discipline in-house and are looking for craft and speed.
Where the model fits, it frees up real money. That money can go straight into the production budget: better talent, better craft and a better final product, instead of funding a structure built for a different kind of brand.
This isn't a knock on agencies or on the people in these roles. It's about matching the build to the need. Some brands genuinely need the full agency model. Many don't, and they just haven't been told that's an option.
No. Brands that already have strategy, research and insights in-house may only need a small senior team to turn that thinking into work. A full-service agency makes more sense when the brand needs strategic thinking as well as execution.
Typically a senior art director and copywriter, a designer, a producer experienced in film and digital, and a production company. Some production companies offer this creative team as part of their services.
The producer acts as the steward of the work. They protect the brand's interests, bid the work properly, make sure money goes to the right places and keep production moving.
It doesn't work when the brand still needs strategic thinking, when the team is junior, or when the brand relies on an agency's structure to manage process and stakeholders.
When it fits, it's faster and frees up budget that would otherwise fund agency structure. That money can go into production instead: better talent, better craft and a better final product.