Fractional Creative Direction.
Senior creative oversight where every session produces the work AND builds the team’s ability to produce it without me. That’s the difference between this and a freelance ECD.
WHAT CHANGES
What changes: the freelance ECD comparison.
You could hire a freelance Executive Creative Director. Good ones review briefs, direct work, coach teams well.
Here’s what they won’t do: build a systematic plan to make themselves unnecessary.
Every session has two outputs. The work: briefs reviewed, concepts directed, ideas challenged. The transfer: the evaluation framework, the feedback vocabulary, the AI tools, the growing confidence to maintain the standard alone.
A freelance ECD’s best outcome: the work was great. This engagement’s best outcome: the work was great AND the team produces great work without me. Categorically different goals.
THE EXIT
The six-month checkpoint.
At six months, we measure: can the team maintain the standard independently? If yes, the engagement evolves or concludes. If not, we fix what’s missing.
I could keep the retainer running. But a team that needs a fractional CD forever hasn’t been developed. Independence is the metric.
INVESTMENT
€8,000–€12,000 per month (1–2 days/week). Minimum 3 months.
The premium over a freelance ECD is justified by the methodology transfer and the built-in exit plan. You’re paying for the capability your team keeps.
THE DEAL
One person. No handoff.
If something takes me out of an engagement for more than two weeks, the retainer pauses and a handover protocol kicks in → documented at kickoff, agreed in the contract, not invented on the day.
More intensive? The Embedded Programme →
Not sure yet? Start with the Diagnostic →