An advertising agency Is a team of creative people who, using the media (communication channels), advertise (promote) services or a client’s product by attracting additional interest to it.
Advertising agencies are divided into two (usually these are the groups) large groups: creative agencies (create ads), media agencies (place ads). There are also a huge number of agencies on the market that offer clients more specialized services: BTL, direct marketing, interactive marketing , communication design, branding and more.
Recently, full-cycle advertising agencies are gaining popularity – organizations that have in their arsenal the whole range of the above types of advertising services. These advertising agencies, in fact, are advertising companies with their own production of advertising products, with their specialists in all areas of advertising. A full-service advertising agency strives to cover all possible types of advertising, from conventional, traditional advertising to online advertising.
Varieties of direct marketing
The following forms of direct marketing exist:
- personal sales (personal, direct sales) – personal contact between the seller and the buyer;
- direct mail marketing – sending promotional materials, samples, letters, etc. by mail to representatives of the main audience;
- catalog marketing – mailing and demonstrating catalogs in shopping centers to certain potential customers;
- tele marketing – direct sales of products to customers by telephone;
- TV marketing – is aimed at a quick response of the audience to advertising when the first responders have a discount on the purchase of goods or when products are offered at the best price on special channels;
- e-commerce – the sale of goods using information systems and networks.
The term direct marketing originated in America and was first coined by Lester Wunderman in 1967 while working with brands such as America Express and Columbia Records. However, the practice of ordering goods by mail took place much earlier – with the invention of the typewriter in the late 19th century. Then some companies began to expand the geographical area of services provided and collected the first databases, that is, address lists of potential customers of the company, which were used to send catalogs, advertising brochures, leaflets, etc. Thus, direct marketing and its main tool – direct mail – will become one of the most popular types of advertising.
Full cycle advertising agency
Full cycle advertising agency (less often – integrated communications agency):
- The first definition is an agency that combines a creative agency (develops advertising materials) and a media agency (places advertising materials).
- The second definition is an agency capable of providing a client with all possible types of advertising services (advertising on television, radio, in the press, on the Internet, outdoor advertising, BTL-actions, design, ideas, marketing research, and so on).
In fact, the definitions are identical to each other and describe the same type of organization.
This type of advertising agency was formed due to the presence of a significant demand for complex services in advertising. Almost any large commercial organization has a need to advertise using a variety of ad spaces. For example, on television and on the Internet. The client marketing department may simply find it inconvenient to work in parallel with a media strategy agency and an online campaign planning agency. In addition, there is still production – someone has to come up with a concept and shoot a commercial, draw an advertising idea. And this is the third agency. Working with three different organizations will inevitably lead to the need to coordinate the actions of three different contractors. For many, it is much easier to transfer all the specified work to one company.
In addition, the advertising agency that the company works with strives to retain the client. If a client works with another organization on some type of advertising, and that one offers better conditions and service, there is a possibility of completely losing the customer. Therefore, many advertising agencies that are not able to provide full cycle services seek to position themselves on the market as a full cycle, providing services outside their profile through contractors.
For the reasons stated above, partnerships are widely developed in the advertising market. An advertising agency that does not have, for example, search engine optimization specialists on its staff, but has received a request for this service from a client, is looking for another agency that provides this service and resells it to the client, posing as its own. This is a widespread practice in which the agency actually takes over the function of the client’s marketing department – finding a contractor, on itself. As a result, the client receives the required service, and the advertising agency receives a trusted controlled partner who will not “take away” the client.
Experienced marketers and marketing directors, as a rule, are aware of this and do not oppose it – for them the main thing is high-quality service delivery and the agency’s quick response to the company’s needs.