Quick Scenarios
One-Off Projects
Avg project price
£/ campaign
Campaigns per year
projects
Monthly Retainer
Monthly fee
£/ month
Months committed
12
Hidden Costs of One-Offs
Re-brief / onboarding
12%
Rush / premium fees
15%
Project work carries soft costs a retainer absorbs: re-explaining the brand each time, slower turnarounds and rush premiums when timelines slip. Adjust these to reflect your reality, or set to zero to compare headline prices only.
Annual Saving with a Retainer
£--
vs commissioning the same work as one-off projects
Saving
--
Effective / campaign
--
One-Off Projects
£--
per year, all-in
Base projects--
Onboarding overhead--
Rush premiums--
Monthly Retainer
£--
per year, all-in
Monthly fee--
Months committed--
Onboarding / rushIncluded
Total annual cost, side by side
One-off projects--
Monthly retainer--
Beyond the numbers: consistency benefits
One visual language
Every asset matches: same lighting, lensing and finish across the whole catalogue.
Faster turnarounds
No re-briefing. The team already knows your brand, files and standards.
Predictable budgeting
One fixed monthly line item. Easier to forecast and to defend internally.
Priority capacity
Reserved studio time means launches do not wait in a queue behind other clients.
Assumptions used
- One-off work includes the selected re-brief and rush-cost assumptions.
Value drivers
- Campaign volume, retainer fee and hidden one-off overheads drive the result.
Next checks
- Confirm what the monthly fee includes before treating the comparison as a supplier brief.
Recommendation
--
Breakeven
Retainer / campaign--
Project / campaign--
Breakeven campaigns--
Retainer annual--
Project annual--
Effective Discount
Headline project rate--
Retainer per campaign--
Saving per campaign--
When Retainers Win
Volume. The more campaigns per year, the more a fixed monthly fee outpaces per-project pricing.
Always-on content. Steady demand for stills, films and social fits a retainer far better than spiky one-offs.
Brand control. A partner who lives in your world produces more consistent work than a rotating cast of freelancers.