Package Design - June/July 2014 - 60

Q&A e x p e r t ' s

TA K E

How to pick a design firm

Chris Down

Vice president of global creative at Mattel Inc.
What are the top criteria you use to
select design and branding ﬁrms?
1. Does their portfolio match our needs?
2. Do they have an advocate we trust?
3. Are they reliable?

How much research happens before
the ﬁrst call to a new agency?
Generally, we let the agency's work speak first
and don't do a great deal of research. If the work
looks good and we have a need to fill, we will
reach out. The process is dramatically shortened if there is an internal advocate. We have
thousands of projects flowing through Mattel
every year. If it doesn't go well with a new
agency, it is an easy decision to not use them
again.

60

JUNE/JULY 2014

How do you discover new agencies?
By far, the majority of discoveries are through
internal sharing and referrals. Within Mattel, we
have several hundred creatives from many different disciplines-giving us a broad creative
outreach and agency intelligence. Less frequently, we discover agencies through periodicals, websites and talent aggregators.

How do you manage all the pitches
that you receive from design ﬁrms?
We have an endless number of agencies soliciting work. Not only would it be time consuming
to evaluate them all, but it would be distracting
to our teams. Therefore, we limit the number of
pitches we take.
As we discover agencies that fit a particular
need, we are more inclined to try them on a
project instead of spend the time listening to
formal pitches. Historically, we've had "agency
days," where we will aggregate new groups or
even those that are currently in use and expose
them to the broader Mattel creative
community.

Package Design - June/July 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Package Design - June/July 2014

Package Design - June/July 2014
Table of Contents
Editor’s Letter
Publisher’s Letter
Front Panel
Snapshots
Package Design Matters: Creative Drive
Packaging Pantene’s Crowning Glory
Nature Nut
Keepin’ it Real
Design Tech Products: Prototyping Technologies
Fresh Story
Brand Makers
Product Focus: Biobased Packaging
ndex of Advertisers
Field Notes
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Intro
Package Design - June/July 2014 - BB1
Package Design - June/July 2014 - BB2
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Package Design - June/July 2014
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Cover2
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 1
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Table of Contents
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 3
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Editor’s Letter
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 5
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Publisher’s Letter
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Front Panel
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 8
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 9
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 10
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 11
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Snapshots
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 13
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 14
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 15
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Package Design Matters: Creative Drive
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 17
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 18
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 19
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 20
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 21
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 22
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 23
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 24
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 25
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 26
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 27
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Packaging Pantene’s Crowning Glory
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 29
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 30
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 31
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Nature Nut
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 33
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 34
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Keepin’ it Real
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 36
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 37
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 38
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 39
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Design Tech Products: Prototyping Technologies
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 41
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 42
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 43
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 44
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 45
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 46
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 47
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 48
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 49
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 50
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Fresh Story
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 52
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 53
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 54
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 55
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 56
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 57
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Brand Makers
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 59
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 60
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 61
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 62
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 63
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 64
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 65
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 66
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 67
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 68
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 69
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 70
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 71
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Product Focus: Biobased Packaging
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 73
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 74
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 75
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 76
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 77
Package Design - June/July 2014 - 78
Package Design - June/July 2014 - ndex of Advertisers
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Field Notes
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Cover3
Package Design - June/July 2014 - Cover4
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