Creative Process

Competition by Design

Make no mistake about it—Apple Box Studios is not just another marketing communications firm. Our clients expect and deserve exceptional creative in both design and messaging. So what makes our creative so different? Competition—plain and simple. Our creative process is built around a formal competitive framework that challenges our design teams to produce the very best results in direct competition with one another.

We call it Competition by Design or CBD and Apple Box Studios is the only Pittsburgh advertising agency of our size to incorporate such an outcomes-based process. On projects both large and small, we compete not just for your business, but for your admiration.

Apple Box Studios is not an egalitarian company. We are a meritocracy and only the best outcomes are acceptable here. Competition is everywhere in life. Shouldn't it be a part of your ad agency as well?

Our Process

At Apple Box Studios, we stress to our clients that the creative process takes time, imagination and patience. It doesn’t all happen on the first draft or the initial design. Over the years, we’ve learned successful engagements usually require ongoing consideration, editing, revisions and creative risk taking. Most of all, a successful collaboration requires a willingness to offer bold ideas and open minds to consider them.

In order to manage the creative process and achieve effective outcomes on behalf of our clients, we emphasize a five-phase development process: Strategy, Messaging, Design, Production and Delivery. It is this process that has helped Apple Box Studios to become one of the fastest growing advertising agencies in Pittsburgh.

Strategy

Whether creating a simple sales presentation in PowerPoint or building a comprehensive marketing plan, every Apple Box Studios engagement begins with front-end discovery, strategic analysis, market research and creative innovation. A successful marketing strategy always incorporates the needs and wants of its target audience. Unique to the Pittsburgh marketplace, our process hinges on this fact and guides us in every stage of development, from Strategy to Delivery. Our emphasis on unique brand positioning differentiates our process and provides our clients with a clear and carefully considered communications roadmap to create a variety of advertising vehicles. Learn more about our Strategic BluePrinting process.

Messaging

Strong content creation and copy writing abilities are at the heart of Apple Box Studios. Clients consistently rely on us for advertising messages that resonate with their target audiences. Whether in the form of advertising copy, scripts, or creative briefs, Apple Box Studios knows drafting a clear message is the key to any successful communications project. Our goal in the Messaging phase is to align project expectations and build a consensus among project stakeholders. It has been our experience that paying close attention to messaging will save time and money in the later phases of development.

Design

Creative design can literally take an infinite number of shapes and compositions. For this reason, Apple Box Studios will often begin an advertising design challenge with a benchmark sample. Using existing design samples as a point of reference helps project participants communicate more effectively about abstract concepts and expectations that might otherwise be too ambiguous to agree upon. During this stage, Apple Box Studios will create different design compositions for each piece of marketing or communications collateral based on the Strategy and Messaging phases above.

Production

Simply put, production is the marriage of messaging and design. It is also where the hard work of editing and refining takes place. We always allow for several rounds of client feedback in order to exceed their expectations. This philosophy sets Apple Box Studios apart from many other ad agencies in Pittsburgh who often think their first version of a creative idea is final. This is never the case and the reason why we continuously push to re-write, re-design and re-work our thinking.

Delivery

How your audience experiences a communication tool or advertising campaign is critical to its success. Whether it is delivered over the web, at a trade show, through a print ad or on a TV screen, Apple Box Studios considers the delivery method from the start. Often times, this dynamic will have a substantial impact on the way a communications project is developed. The Delivery stage includes work such as interactive authoring, print management, electronic or mail distribution, media buying, web site launch/maintenance/SEO, social media, ongoing project management and creative consulting.

Apple Box Studios, Inc. a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania advertising agency specializing in branding and advertising, marketing strategy, creative writing, graphic design and video production. Step up and be noticed.

Apple Box Studios is a fully-insured Pittsburgh S-corporation.

Directions    Contact Us    Sitemap