ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT

AD AGENCY - CLIENT
RELATIONSHIP

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 Advertising Agency: Basic Concept

An advertising agency is a service business dedicated

to creating, planning and handling advertising and
other promotional activities for its clients.
An ad agency is independent from the client and
provides an outside point of view to the effort of
selling the client's products or services.
An agency can also handle overall marketing,
communication, sales promotions oriented and
branding strategies for its clients.

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 Advertising Agency: Basic Concept
Typical advertising agency clients include
the following clientele:
1. Businesses and Corporations
2. Government Agencies
3. Non Profit Organizations
Agencies may be hired to produce a complete overall
advertising campaign and promotional activities to
build awareness and fulfill advertising goals and
objectives

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 TYPES OF ADVERTISING COMPANIES

Advertising agencies come in all sizes as stated

below:
1. one or two-person shops (which rely mostly on
freelance talent to perform most functions)
2. Small to medium sized agencies
3. large independents and multi-national, multi-
agency conglomerates like O &M and Satchi
and Satchi

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 TYPES OF ADVERTISING COMPANIES
Limited-Service Advertising Agencies
Some agencies usually offer only one or two of the basic
services. For example, although some agencies that
specialize in "creative" also offer strategic advertising
planning service.
Similarly, some "media-buying services" offer media
planning service but concentrate on media buying,
placement, and billing.
Thus, the advertiser who uses limited-service agencies
usually gives greater strategic direction to specialist
creative or media agencies, and exercises greater control
over the product of these agencies.
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 TYPES OF ADVERTISING COMPANIES
Specialist Advertising Agencies
There are agencies that specialize in particular kinds of
advertising: recruitment, classified, industrial, financial,
direct-response, retail, yellow pages, theatrical/
entertainment, investment, etc
Specialization occurs for a variety of reasons. Often, as in
recruitment advertising, specialized media are involved that
require knowledge / expertise not ordinarily found in
general-line agency.
In industrial advertising, the subject is technical and
requires that writers and artists have training in order to
write meaningful advertising messages about it.
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 TYPES OF ADVERTISING COMPANIES

Branded Content Agencies

Branded content agencies don’t produce advertising in the
‘traditional’ sense. Rather, they aim to incorporate their
client’s brands into popular culture — e.g. creating a TV
commercial for the brand or developing a rich
message content of the brand or designing an event
people want to attend.
The idea is to make brands synonymous with an
enjoyable experience, thereby making them better
known and recognized in consumers’ minds.

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 TYPES OF ADVERTISING COMPANIES
Interactive agencies
Interactive agencies may differentiate themselves by
offering a mix of web development, search engine
marketing, internet advertising/marketing, or e-
commerce consulting.
Interactive agencies rose to prominence offering a wide
range of services. Today, the most successful interactive
agencies are defined as companies that provide specialized
advertising and marketing services for the digital space.
The recent boost in the interactive agencies can also be
attributed to the rising popularity of web-based social
networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and YouTube
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 TYPES OF ADVERTISING COMPANIES
Digital Agencies
Most digital (or online) agencies are structured and work
in much the same way as offline agencies.
There are some agencies that work mainly on media
planning and buying, some work solely on the creative
side, and others will be full service incorporating all of
the above.
However what binds them is that their specialty will lie
across all mediums of digital communication, including
banners, viral emails, games, Interactive TV, mobile
and email marketing.
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 TYPES OF ADVERTISING COMPANIES

Direct Marketing Agencies

A direct marketing agency typically provides strategic /
creative solutions to a client's business objectives by
using ‘direct’ marketing channels that are measurable in
terms of the responses created
Direct channels include the likes of direct response TV
and radio, direct mail, inserts, door-drops and online
advertising.

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 TYPES OF ADVERTISING COMPANIES

Outdoor (Out of Home) Agencies

Outdoor agencies are specialists in ‘out-of-home’ media,

such as posters in all their various forms.

They provide objective planning, buying and related

technical support for advertisers and their agencies to
promote better understanding and more effective use of
OOH media.

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ADVERTISING AGENCY: ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

• An advertising agency has a very different structure from

that of a regular organization. On a general front, an
advertising agency consists of the following departments:
• The account management department.
• The account planning (strategy) department.
• The internal services department (inclusive of the
traffic department, the creative department, the print
production cell
• The human resources department
• The finance and administrative department
• The media-planning department.
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ADVERTISING AGENCY: ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

• President / CEO -- The guy at the top who usually

ensures that the client planning and creative are of good
quality.
• Account Management -- These are the people who
assist clients plan their marketing, help determine
budgets, set schedules.
• Business Development Team: Procuring business
through innovative sales strategies and enhancing
business prospects
• Media Buyers – Supervise client budget and
determines the most cost effective media
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 ADVERTISING AGENCY: ORGANIZATION
STRUCTURE
• Creatives and Design -- Business consisting of copywriters and
art directors.

• Traffic / Production Management – Team who make sure

work is being done on time and on budget.

• Support -- Typically financial, administrative and other

functions.

• Advertising Interns: Comprise university students who are

interested in advertising. Internships commonly fall into one of
six areas of expertise: Research & Analysis, Account services,
interactive, media planning, public relations and traffic
control
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 Agency departments: Overview
Creative department
The people who create the actual advertisements form the
core of an advertising agency. Modern advertising
agencies usually form their copywriting and art direction
into creative teams.

Creative teams may be permanent partnerships or

formed on a project-by-project basis.
Creative departments frequently work with outside design
or production studios to develop and implement their
ideas.
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 Agency departments: Overview
Account services
Agencies appoint account executives to interact and
liaison with the clients. The account executives need to be
sufficiently aware of the client’s needs, aspirations,
motives and desires that can be instructed to the
agency’s personnel.
The account manager will develop a creative brief,
usually about a page that gives direction to the
creative team. The creative brief often includes
information about the target audience and their attitudes
and behaviors.

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 Agency departments: Overview

Media services
The media services department may not be so well
known, but its employees are the people who have
contacts with the suppliers of various creative media.
However, when dealing with the major media
(broadcast media, outdoor, and the print media), this
work is usually outsourced to a media agency which can
advise on media planning and is normally large enough to
negotiate prices down further.

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 Agency departments: Overview
Production
Very critical Role – as without the production department, the
ads created by the copywriter and art director would imply
nothing

The production department ensures that the TV commercial or print

ad, etc., gets produced. They are responsible for contracting
external vendors (directors and production companies in the case of
TV commercials; photographers and design studios in the case of
the print advertising or direct mailers).

Producers are involved in every aspect of a project, from the

initial creative briefing through execution and delivery.

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 Agency departments: OVERVIEW
Traffic Management
An integral department within an advertising agency is traffic. The
traffic department regulates the flow of work in the agency.

It is typically headed by a traffic manager (or system

administrator). Critical Functions include prioritization of clients,
activity sequencing, increasing an agency's efficiency and
profitability through reduction of false job starts,
inappropriate job initiation.

In small agencies without a dedicated traffic manager, one

employee may be responsible for managing workflow, gathering
cost estimates and answering the phone, and much more

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 Agency SELECTION: MAIN CRITERIA

Full service agency or part- time agency

The full-service agency is involved completely in the advertising
functions. It has a large number of expert employees.
The part-time agency offers service on free of cost or project basis.
These agencies perform various outside activities and co-ordinate
the activities of the advertiser and media personnel

Compatibility
Selection of an advertising agency depends on the compatibility of
the agency. The needs of the company determine the fitness of the
agency on the basis of its merits, demerits, accreditation, etc

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 Agency SELECTION: Main Criteria

Agency Team
This includes market researchers, copywriters, media experts,
production managers and art directors. The attitude, thinking,
experience and personalities of the team members have positive
effects on the selection process.

Agency Stability
An agency, which has been long in existence generally, performs
efficiently and effectively. The personnel, finance, experience,
Brand recognition, management and credit are examined
before selecting a suitable advertising agency.

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 Agency SELECTION: Main Criteria

Services
The services rendered by the agency are evaluated with a view to
choosing the best advertising agency.

Cost accounting, general agreements, project estimates, selling

attitudes and other services performed by the advertising agencies
are considered to evaluate their efficiency and credibility.

The greater the range of an agency’s services, the more complete it

can serve the clients’ needs. The agency can serve the clients by its
capacity for advertising, sales promotion, media placement,
public relations, market research, etc

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 Agency SELECTION: Main Criteria

Creativity
Creativity is the main element in advertising. If the advertising
agency is capable of great creative efforts, it is selected for the
purpose. Artwork, Design, Style, clarity, impact, memorability
and action- these are considered while evaluating creativity.

Problem-solving approach
The agency which has a problem solving approach is considered
to be superior and useful. Compatibility, balanced services,
responsiveness, -these are important factors in selecting an
advertising agency.

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 Agency SELECTION: Main Criteria

Agency's motivation to take your business to the next level :

A client's business success is important. The value based
advertising philosophy i.e. one that is based on becoming
recognized for creating increased sales, profitability and
ultimately shareholder value for your business.

Agency capability of integrating traditional and new media?

Integrated, media-neutral marketing is concerned with a

holistic, solutions-based approach that consistently delivers results
on an ongoing basis. We need an agency which spans these media
arenas

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 Agency SELECTION: Main Criteria

Agency Ability to differentiate your business?

Is agency capable of producing big ideas and delivering results?

Do they possess the insight into the core essence of your brand?

Can they produce a proposition that your target audience will

find irresistible?

Can they position your business effectively and create ‘market

space' for your brand to fulfilL its potential.

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 Agency SELECTION: PROCESS
FLOWCHART

Develop a list of agencies to evaluate. The best source in compiling

this list is referrals from colleagues, Yellow Pages, Internet, etc

Conduct your initial research: Use the internet to check out the
agencies on your initial list and eliminate any obvious poor fits.
Some agencies focus on specific industry niches, some have a
broader focus but are clearly more B2B or B2C oriented.

Develop your request for proposal (RFP). This step in actually

somewhat controversial, as there are “experts” out there who will
tell you not to use an RFP, but rather to utilize a request for
information (RFI)

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 Agency SELECTION: PROCESS
FLOWCHART
Call On each agency on your list: Introduce yourself and your
company, and tell them you’d like to include them in your RFP
process.

Send out the RFPs: Only to the agencies who have agreed to
participate. Make yourself available to answer their (inevitable)
questions. If you invite them to give a presentation; get agreement
from your internal selection team (specifically those with expense
approval authority)

Evaluate the RFP responses: Eliminate those agencies which are

less than an excellent fit for your needs, in order to get down to your
short list of finalists (at least two, but certainly no more than five).

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 Agency SELECTION: PROCESS FLOWCHART

Arrange for presentations from each of your finalist

agencies:
Series of presentations may be necessary to eliminate an
agency from consideration. At this step your evaluation
team will have the opportunity to share with the agency
more information about your sector, your company, your
challenges and goals. Each agency has the opportunity to
tell you more about their capabilities, approach and
practices.
Finally, making the final selection: Your internal
selection team should agree to discuss the merits of the
competing agencies as peers in a freewheeling discussion.
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 Client Agency RELATIONSHIP
The agency commitments: What you expect from your agency.
1. Commitment to the success of your business. The
best agency people are 100 percent committed to the
same goal. Their commitment is evidenced by their time,
enthusiasm, work, etc
2. Knowledge of your business. Agency people,
particularly the account group, cannot solve your
advertising problems unless they have understood and
evaluated the market in which you compete. Assess how
keen they are in understanding the essence and details of
your business and communication strategy objectives.

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 Client Agency RELATIONSHIP

3. Open-mindedness. Good agency people are

committed to the importance of a good idea, no matter
what its source. Non Cooperative and opinionated
attitude, fixed ideas, etc has no place in a collaborative
relationship.
4. Honesty.: Open, Frank, Transparency, Delivery,
Billing, etc
5. Leadership from your account people. Account
people are your primary contact and your source of
communication within the agency.

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 Client Agency RELATIONSHIP
Why Clients Terminate Agency Relationships
• High Employee Attrition/Turnover – New marketing
director
• Lack of interest/understanding of client’s business
• Delivery unsatisfactory and below client expectations
• Time and cost overruns
• Poor quality work due to technical and manpower skill
deficiency
• Ineffective media planning
• Non responsive to client’s queries

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 Client Agency Relationship
Why Clients Terminate Agency Relationships
(Cont’d)
• Understaffing and inexperienced personnel
• Strategy and creative linkage unhinged
• “Outgrown” the agency
• Research scores consistently below norms
• Creative arrogance
• Mandated consolidation
• Loose attention to budgets

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