Reviews
Part of How to review branding agencies: declared evidence and like-for-like criteria
Branding agency reviews in England: the evidence pack to request
Wolff Olins and Pentagram both hold at desk review because five documents are missing. Request the same evidence pack from each before you compare them.
What to take away
- Wolff Olins, founded 1965, is part of Omnicom Group. Pentagram, founded 1972, is an independent partnership.
- A desk review settles identity, ownership and public proposition. Fit, price, team and delivery stay unproven.
- Neither agency supplied a proposal, contract, client reference, insurance record or exit plan, so both hold.
- Send both the same request on the same day, then compare answers rather than reputations.
What the desk check settled, and where it stops
The desk check confirmed identity and nothing more. Wolff Olins' London contact page matches its filed record for Wolff Olins Limited. Pentagram's published London address matches the registration for Pentagram Design Limited.
Those checks confirm a legal entity and a trading address. They do not confirm a delivery team, timetable, acceptance test or rights package.
Companies House publishes filed information, but its disclaimer states the material is not verified or validated. The records are identity evidence, not service quality assessments.
Marketing copy, portfolios and testimonials were logged as supplier claims. Nothing was tested, and no named reviewer assessed either agency.
Desk review boundary check
Were services, workshops, files or outputs tested?
hands-on evidence exists
hold verdict stands
The five documents to ask for
A hold verdict names what is missing. Five items were not supplied by either agency, and each answers a question a website cannot.
| Document | What it settles | What to look for in the reply |
|---|---|---|
| Proposal | Scope, named team and price for a defined scope | Whether the team named is the team that will do the work |
| Contract | Rights package and acceptance test | Who owns the work, and how acceptance is decided |
| Client reference | Team response under deadline, disagreement handling | A reference the client agreed to give, not one arranged by the agency |
| Insurance record | Whether cover is in force | The issuer and the dates |
| Exit plan | What happens to the work if the relationship ends | Handover of files and rights |
A website cannot show team response under deadline, disagreement handling or pricing for a defined scope. A hands-on trial would test judgement, collaboration and output quality. Neither agency was engaged on those terms.
Sending the same request to both
- Write the brief, the budget band and the evaluation criteria before you contact either agency.
- Request an identical pack from bothentity, named team, proposal, two references and a price schedule.
- Add rights, privacy, security and accessibility evidence to the same pack.
- Use a weighted scoring matrix and log who supplied what, and when.
- Reopen the review when documents arrive, and recheck every page on the day you publish.
A held review asks both agencies the same questions on the same day, then compares answers rather than reputations.
Writing the benchmark specification first keeps the comparison honest. The guidance on reviews for businesses and agencies says reviews must not be fabricated or arranged by the business itself.
What to compare the replies against
Compare each reply with what the agency already says in public. Every line below comes from a first-party page or filed record, and the table is a starting position, not a scorecard.
Wolff Olins
- Ownership
- Part of Omnicom Group
- Structure
- Consultancy with strategy, identity and activation teams
- Known public work
- London 2012 Olympics identity; O2 brand
- Pricing
- No public rate card; fees quoted by scope
Pentagram
- Ownership
- Independent partnership
- Structure
- Partner-led multidisciplinary studio
- Known public work
- Mastercard 2016 rebrand; The Public Theater identity
- Pricing
- No public rate card; fees quoted by scope
Wolff Olins positions around strategy, measurement and activation at programme scale. Pentagram positions around partner-led identity, where a named partner leads the design.
Fit depends on whether the brief needs a strategy programme or named partners leading design, a distinction set out in agency models compared. Neither can be chosen on a desk review alone.
Pricing and what follows a reply
Neither agency publishes a rate card, so fees arrive only as a quote for a defined scope. Typical ranges for comparable scope are covered in London agency costs, and they are not quotes.
If you want studios ranked, a comparison of three London studios explains why that format is refused. Ranking needs tested delivery, not a table.
Appointment should follow the evidence. The contract clauses worth settling before work starts cover rights, exit and acceptance.
Common questions
Which agency is better for my brief?
Neither can be chosen on a desk review alone. The table shows a consultancy model at Wolff Olins and a partner-led studio at Pentagram. Fit depends on your brief.
Why does the review end at hold rather than pass or fail?
Pass and fail need tested evidence. No proposal, reference, price or team was supplied, so the verdict records the gap rather than judging either agency.
Can I trust a desk review at all?
It is reliable for identity, ownership, published services and address checks. It is not evidence of fit, quality or value, and should never be presented as a client review.
What should I do next?
Send both agencies the same brief and evidence request on the same day, then score the replies against criteria you wrote first.
