TurnUs Studio
Design as a subscription
Indeed, we've embraced the subscription-based business model. Its transparent nature allows us to tailor it specifically for certain tasks during brand design. Our aim was to expand our services and transition our agency into a product-oriented approach. We are still running our core business - agency in the traditional model, but clients can now choose.
We see a subscription as a great tool for typical design work or if your company want the job simply done. For more complicated tasks, that involve brand strategy and extended creative exploration - the traditional model works better.
As an addition we are experimenting in the product that helps with brand strategy - the hardest and usually neglected part. But about this in the future.
4 Comments
Hey Jarek,
What is your argument when a customer asks you why he should pay a subscription for something like design when there are so many "pay one time" offers?
Good question. We operate in both (traditional and subscription) models. Why? We belive subscription is great "design as a service" model - you come up with a problem and want the thing done - for example you in the early stages of your business and want a logo and website done properly and according to decent levels of standards. It can be done in subscription easily and cheaper than in traditional model.
Of course subscription cal also serve as your internal design department. For the price lower than in-house designer you get the design service from agency. So with the subscription your everyday needs can be solved without the need of looking for new hire, looking if the employee earn his money etc. And yes - it's a basically a retainer without long-term contracts.
So subscription is great option to have if you want things done fast and efficiently with dose of trust in an expertise from design agency side.
On the other hand, if you have an established brand that has to be refreshed (branding of more complicated website) or you are introducing new product. Then probably traditional model with more vast creative exploration, different routes of design and full brand strategy will work better, as it gives you more value and more inputs. This is completely different approach, especially when you want to be more involved in the whole process.
So both models have their place and both have their value. But they require different mindset from a client. Especially many people we talk have their reservations toward the subscription as it's something new and unknown in Europe, so they choose traditional approach they are familiar with.
Very interesting, I am currently working intensively on the SaaS and billing topic, what the motives are for a customer to sign up for a subscription and what a product must do for this.
With design, as you also described, I see the danger of being abused as a cheap agency that just has to do everything that comes up (and the exact scope is not defined).
This I feel is not a very desirable model, rather my wish would be to work on the product and via the subscription the customer simply gets the product updates that every other customer also gets (instead of individual support / design).
You write that e.g. for simple initial tasks the subscription model works well, but why does a customer pay a subscription for months or even years if he got something a long time ago and since then never again? What do you tell these customers when they only want to make a one-time payment? Why is it supposedly easier and cheaper?
When it comes to design agencies there is a lot of preparation talk, client understanding etc. but sometimes clients need things done without much fluff. Then subscription model as an idea works.
We do not believe that the average client will be subscribed for more than 2-3 months - typical timing for small branding projects with implementation. More prominent, corporate clients with a lot of ongoing tasks may utilize long-term subscriptions, but for the typical company, - 1-3 months is good enough. So in this particular case, churn is almost given - they will pause/cancel, because it would be completely irrational and money-wasting if you pay a monthly fee without utilizing the services. We are not a gym.
And when it comes to payment - a subscription works like a single payment (you can cancel or pause) when you just need a month of work. If you need two - just pause after two.
We also offer the ability to share the subscription - this model is created with groups. You can share one subscription between brands - so if your company needs just one thing, but your friend's company needs another - get the tasks, buy one subscription and it's done. The caveat is that the client has one task active at a time, so the next task waits till the action is done. A simple solution for being over-swamped with random tasks at random times.
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