How to choose · 6 min read
How to choose a creative storytelling agency in Morocco
Portfolios all look good. Here are the criteria that actually predict whether an agency will build a brand, not just assets.
· Written by Yassine Mejbar, founder of Simple8
Every portfolio in Casablanca looks good. Every deck leans on the same six words. That is exactly why the choice is hard: the real differences only show up in week three, long after the pitch. Here is what we would test before signing anything.
1. Do they think in narrative or in deliverables?
Ask what story they would tell for your brand before asking what they would produce. An agency that jumps straight to formats, reels, a film, a website, is selling production. An agency that starts with tension and audience is selling storytelling.
2. Is there real creative direction?
Look at three of their projects side by side. If they all look alike, the agency has a style, not a method. If each brand looks like itself and still feels crafted, that's creative direction.
3. Can they prove the work travelled?
- What changed for the client beyond the launch week
- Which assets kept performing after the campaign ended
- How the story was adapted across channels and languages
- What they would do differently today
4. Do they measure what matters?
Views are not memory. Ask how they track brand recall, search demand for the brand name, qualified inbound and retention, not only impressions. An agency that measures only reach will optimise only reach.
5. Who is actually on your project?
In Morocco as everywhere, the pitch team is often not the delivery team. Ask who writes, who designs, who runs the media, and how often you will speak to them.
Hire for the thinking, not for the showreel.
If the answers point to a method rather than a showreel, you are probably talking to a partner. If they do not, another round of meetings will not change it.