Define ad agency Functions of ad agency Services provided by ad agency People working Types of ad agency

An Advertising Agency or ad agency is a service provider that works for clients to create an effective and goal oriented advertising campaign aimed at representing the Company positively in the eyes of its target customers.

AMERICAN ASSO.OF ADVTG.AGENCY definesAn Advertising Agency as an independent

organization of Creative people and business people who specialize in developing and preparing marketing plans, advertisements, and other

promotional tools.

CUNDIFF & STILL defines-

An

Advertising

Agency

is

an

independent

organization composed of creative people and business people who develop, prepare and place

advertisement in an advertising media for sellers,

seeking to find customers for goods and services.

Advertising agencies are outside companies that provide for the marketing and advertising needs of other businesses and organizations. Advertising

agencies offer a full range of advertising services

and advice based on market studies, popular culture

and advanced sales techniques.

To advertise their products, brands and services to present and prospective customers.

For planning and creating an effective advertising

campaign.

To take over the process of brand building,

strategizing and pushing sales through other

promotion techniques like sales promotions etc.

Total

advertising

services:

Strategic

planning,

creative

development and media services for advertising, particularly in

television, newspapers, magazines and radio; providing the best

creative designed to capture the imagination of consumers

Marketing services: Provision of a number of advertising related services, including sales promotion, market research, PR and event marketing.

E-Solution integration

services: services,

E-solution e-business

services, including consulting and

system customer

relationship management, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and

Search Engine Optimization(SEO) and e-promotions using the

Event marketing: Assisting clients by providing dynamic vehicles for their messages in the form of on-the-spot interactive communications.

Accounts management:

- Management supervisor
- Account supervisor - Account executive

Copy writers: They are the wordsmiths who do the wording of an

advertisement. They are bright and talented. They have a flair for language. They contribute to the theme of an advertisement. Creation of

successful copies for different clients establishes them in this field.

Visualisers: These are artists who put on paper what has been thought out by the copywriter. They in fact design the ad

Creative director: He co-ordinates the copywriting and designing. He is a senior professional who is seasoned in an existing advertising agency set-up to take on this mantle. Production department: Persons of diverse talents like printing technology, DTP, photography, typography etc.are involved here. Media planner: He has to allocate the advertising budget amongst media. He has to select appropriate media. He decides about the

frequency, size and position of an advertisement. He decides about

its publication date. He receives the tear-off copies from the media when the ad is published. He is guided by the media research,

which he undertakes, or by research undertaken by an outside

agency.

Marketing researchers: Modern agencies are integrated set-ups. They provide a range of marketing services. Research data become very useful as input to the creative process.

Ancillary

services:

These

are

needed

to

produce/create

advertisement. A whole range of services like studio service, photographic service, printing service, gift item producers etc fall

into this category.

Freelancers: These are professionals who work independently and have a successful track record. They are copywriters, jingle

singers, radio announcers, artists, visualizers, technical writers etc.

Local agencies Regional and National agencies International agencies

Full service agencies

Specialized service agencies

Every community of any size has reputable small ad agencies that offer expert assistance to local advertisers.

Every major city has numerous agencies that can produce and place the quality of advertising suitable for national campaigns.

They have offices or affiliates in major communications centers around the world and can help their clients market internationally or globally.

Eg. WPP group, is based in London. But it owns several of the top agencies in the US, such as Ogilvy & Mather and J.Walter Thompson.

It supplies Advertising services (planning, creating,

producing ads, performing research and selecting

media)
- Non advertising services(starts from packaging to

public relation to producing sales promotion

materials, annual reports and trade show exhibits)

General consumer agencies Business-to-business / high-tech agencies

It concentrates on consumer accounts Like soaps, cereals, cars, pet foods, toiletries etc Most of the ads are placed in consumer media (TV, radio, magazines and so on) that pay a commission to the agency

It represents clients that market products to other businesses. Eg. 1. Electronic components for computer manufacturers 2. Equipment used in oil and gas refineries

It is placed in trade magazines or other business publications.

These media is commissionable but rates are smaller than those of consumer media because their circulation is smaller.

Creative boutiques Media buying services

Some talented artists- such as graphic designers and copywriters- set up their own creative services.

They work for advertisers and occasionally sub contract to

ad agencies.

Their mission is to develop exciting creative concepts and produce fresh, distinctive advertising messages.

Specialized in the purchase of media for clients. They are in high demand for many reasons 1. Media has become complex as the number of choices grows. 2. Cost of maintaining a competent media department has escalated. 3. Media buying services often buy media at a lower cost (because

they can group several clients purchases together to develop

substantial buying power)

Media commission :

Media allowed the agencies to retain 15% media commission

Markups: -In the process of creating an ad, the agency normally buys a variety of services or materials from outside suppliers like photos and illustrations. -The agency pays the suppliers charge and then adds a 17.65% markup to the clients bill.

Fees: Fee commission combination: Charges a basic monthly fee

to the client and retains any media commissions earned

-

Straight fee : Charge for all their services either by the hour or by the month and credit any media commissions earned to the client.