A Better Kind of
Agency Relationship

A Better Kind of
Agency Relationship

A Better Kind of
Agency Relationship

Most agency relationships are built around projects. A campaign here. A website there. Work that gets done and then stops. We work differently. Citrus & Slate operates as an ongoing growth partner, invested in your brand the same way you are and structured to build real momentum across every channel.

Most agency relationships are built around projects. A campaign here. A website there. Work that gets done and then stops. We work differently. Citrus & Slate operates as an ongoing growth partner, invested in your brand the same way you are and structured to build real momentum across every channel.

OUR GROWTH SYSTEM

OUR GROWTH SYSTEM

Built Around Your Brand, Designed to Compound

Built Around Your Brand,
Designed to Compound

Built Around Your Brand, Designed to Compound

Every discipline we practice is designed to work with the others. Strategy informs creative. Creative elevates content. Content feeds performance. And performance sharpens strategy.

Every discipline we practice is designed to work with the others. Strategy informs creative. Creative elevates content. Content feeds performance. And performance sharpens strategy.

Every discipline we practice is designed to work with the others. Strategy informs creative. Creative elevates content. Content feeds performance. And performance sharpens strategy.

That's not how most agencies are structured. It's exactly how we are. We use intelligently-enabled workflows throughout our process to move faster, test more, and surface insight more quickly. But the thinking, the direction, and the creative judgment are always ours.


The result is a marketing system that gets smarter, sharper, and more effective with every cycle.

Clarify

Understand the business, the audience, and where the real growth opportunities live.

Audience research · Business priorities · Brand positioning · Competitive landscape

PLAN

Build the roadmap that connects strategy to execution.

Channel strategy · Campaign planning · Content calendar · Budget prioritization

CREATE

Design and produce the creative, content, and systems that power the brand.

Brand identity · Web and digital experience · Content and copy systems · Email and CRM design · Campaign creative

LAUNCH

Put the work into market with speed and precision.

Production management · Campaign activation · Channel deployment · Implementation support

MEASURE

Evaluate what's working, what isn't, and why.

Performance reporting · Audience insight · Channel analysis · Creative review

REFINE

Improve the system based on what we've learned.

Testing and optimization · Messaging iteration · Strategy adjustments · Next-cycle priorities

THE PARTNERSHIP MODEL

THE PARTNERSHIP MODEL

THE PARTNERSHIP MODEL

The Right Level of Partnership for Where You Are

The Right Level of Partnership for Where You Are

The Right Level of Partnership for Where You Are

Every Citrus & Slate engagement is structured around an ongoing relationship.

Every Citrus & Slate engagement is structured around an ongoing relationship.

Whether that starts as a focused project or a long-term retainer, the goal is always the same: build momentum that compounds over time.


We offer three levels of engagement, each designed around a different stage of need. All of them include direct access to senior leaders across strategy, creative, and content.

Not sure which tier below is right for you?

Tier 1

Growth Clarity

Strategic guidance for teams that need focus before they scale. We help you clarify priorities, find your biggest growth opportunities, and build a roadmap that gives your team the direction and confidence to move forward. Clarity isn't just a starting point. It's what every other part of the system depends on.

Strategic guidance for teams that need focus before they scale. We help you clarify priorities, define your highest-leverage opportunities, and build a roadmap that gives your team the direction and confidence to move forward. Clarity isn’t just a starting point. It’s what every other part of the system depends on.

Best for: Teams whose marketing feels scattered, or who need a confident direction before investing in execution.

Typical engagement: A fixed-fee, 4–6 week engagement.

What we give: An honest look at what's working, what isn't, and where attention is being wasted. We review your brand, customer journey, and channels, audit your creative against your competitors, and align your stakeholders around the opportunities that matter most.

What you get: A creative and competitive review, a priorities audit, an opportunity map of your 3–5 biggest growth areas, and a 90-day roadmap with clear owners and success measures. It's a plan your team can run with on its own, or one we can execute together.

Tier 2

Growth Momentum

Our core partnership. We step in exactly where your team needs us most. Your people keep doing what they do best. We bring the senior expertise and capacity to cover what's missing.

Foundational planning, plus creative and strategic framework development. We actively design, build, and optimize the creative and strategic systems that power omnichannel marketing performance. This is where strategy becomes execution, and execution becomes momentum.

Best for: Brands with a capable marketing team and a clear gap, who need senior people to fill it.

Typical engagement: Ongoing monthly retainer, scoped around the specific gaps in your team.

What we give: Whatever your team is missing. That might be senior strategy and creative direction to guide a more junior team. It might be owning email and social while your team focuses on on-property activations. Or a visual identity and brand playbook your team produces against, or ongoing strategic reviews, performance analysis, and creative recommendations.

What you get: Everything in Tier 1, plus a true partner in the trenches with you. Your team gets stronger, and the gaps stop slowing you down.

Tier 3

Growth Partnership

Think of this as your marketing department, just better. You get dedicated senior leadership across creative, content, and strategy, fully invested in your brand. No recruiting. No managing. No overhead. Just experienced people doing great work, without the cost of building an in-house team.

Think of this as your marketing department, just better. You get dedicated senior leadership across creative, content, and strategy, fully invested in your brand and accountable for outcomes. No recruiting. No managing. No overhead. Just experienced people doing great work, for a fraction of what an in-house team would cost.

Best for: Brands that want a complete senior marketing function, or have open marketing roles they'd rather fill with a team that's already in place.

Typical engagement: Ongoing monthly retainer. We operate as your full marketing function.

What we give: We own it end to end. Your marketing strategy and annual plan. Brand, campaigns, and creative across every channel. Content, email, social, and web running as one connected system. Performance reporting and a plan that gets sharper every cycle.

What you get: One senior team accountable for all of it. This is a long-term partnership built to compound.

WHY IT WORKS

WHY IT WORKS

WHY IT WORKS

Senior Thinking
at Every Stage

Senior Thinking
at Every Stage

Senior Thinking
at Every Stage

The partnership model isn't just about continuity. It's about compounding. The longer we work together, the more we understand your brand, your audience, and what moves the needle for your business. That knowledge doesn't reset at the end of a project. It builds.

Most agencies front-load their best people on the pitch and pull them back once the contract is signed. We work the opposite way.


The senior leaders who shape your strategy are the same ones executing it, from day one through every iteration.

Expert-Led

Senior experts lead every engagement. The same people shaping the thinking are responsible for the execution. Most agencies save their best people for the pitch. We put ours on your actual work.

No junior handoffs. No account layers.

Senior experts lead every engagement. The same people shaping the thinking are responsible for the execution. Most agencies save their best people for the pitch. We put ours on your actual work. No junior handoffs. No account layers.

Senior experts lead every engagement. The same people shaping the thinking are responsible for the execution. Most agencies save their best people for the pitch. We put ours on your actual work.

No junior handoffs. No account layers.

Intelligently-Enabled

AI helps us move faster and test more ideas. But tools don't replace judgment. Technology provides speed and scale.

Our team provides direction, taste, and experience.

AI helps us move faster and test more ideas. But tools don’t replace judgment. Technology provides speed and scale. Our team provides direction, taste, and experience.

AI helps us move faster and test more ideas. But tools don’t replace judgment. Technology provides speed and scale.


Our team provides direction, taste, and experience.

Built for Partnership

We work with a select number of brands at a time, by design. That means every client gets direct access to senior thinking, faster response, and a team that's genuinely invested in their growth.

Committed to growth. Not just deliverables.

We work with a select number of brands at a time, by design. That means every client gets direct access to senior thinking, faster response, and a team that’s genuinely invested in their growth. Not just their deliverables.

We work with a select number of brands at a time, by design. That means every client gets direct access to senior thinking, faster response, and a team that’s genuinely invested in their growth.

Not just their deliverables.

WHAT TO EXPECT

WHAT TO EXPECT

WHAT TO EXPECT

How a Partnership Actually Begins

How a Partnership Actually Begins

How a Partnership Actually Begins

We keep the onboarding process simple. No lengthy RFP processes. No procurement gymnastics. Just a straightforward conversation about your brand, your goals, and whether we're the right fit for each other. If we are, here's what happens next.

We keep the onboarding process simple. No lengthy RFP processes. No procurement gymnastics. Just a straightforward conversation about your brand, your goals, and whether we're the right fit for each other. If we are, here's what happens next.

Step 1

The Conversation

We start with a focused discovery call to understand your brand, your challenges, and where you want to go. No pitch decks. No pressure.

Step 2

The Recommendation

Based on what we learn, we'll recommend the partnership tier that makes the most sense for where you are right now. Honest, straightforward, no upsell.

Step 3

The Kickoff

Once we're aligned, we move quickly. Within the first weeks, we're already building clarity, mapping priorities, and laying the foundation for momentum.

©2026 Citrus & Slate

680 North Lake Shore Drive Suite 110, 3136. Chicago, IL 60611

©2026 Citrus & Slate

680 North Lake Shore Drive Suite 110, 3136. Chicago, IL 60611

©2026 Citrus & Slate

680 North Lake Shore Drive Suite 110, 3136. Chicago, IL 60611