Undoubtedly there are those who have considered the possibility of NOT working with an Advertising Agency, thinking of saving the payment of the media commission, professional equalization or any other concept of agency service.
Although it is true that saving may appear attractive in principle, it is also true that when an agency disappears, the need to carry out the work that it performs does NOT disappear.
Furthermore, doing this work through internal company personnel together with an individual supplier of materials or directly with a Media, often translates into higher costs and almost always in lower quality.
Let's see if these points justify the intention of saving the payment to an Advertising Agency.
- The media rates that an Advertising Agency or a Media Broker tend to be lower thanks to the combined volume of purchases of its different clients. For someone to create their own advertising requires at least a department of creativity and art that, being within the same company, it does not need to be competitive and thus quickly translates into poorer creativity and perhaps higher costs as well.A single company would not be willing to pay the high salaries that an art director or copywriter deserves. first quality. If you do, your entire pay scale will be thrown out of balance. Writers and designers need variety in their work to hone their skills. It would be costly for a single company to accumulate the necessary experience to handle different Media,While for the Agency this is part of its day-to-day business. Being an external provider, the Agency gains objectivity: it can look at the business and its products from the point of view of the public more easily than the employees of its own company.
If after evaluating these 6 points someone is inclined to YES to hire an Advertising Agency, now you must make sure to hire the Advertising Agency that you really need.
Advertiser and Agency must be associated in a common objective and to achieve it with the greatest efficiency it is necessary to establish a relationship of trust and mutual respect. This relationship can last a lifetime and therefore, when selecting an Advertising Agency, you should think that they will work together permanently, regardless of the differences that have to be resolved along the way.
It will always be easier to make the Agency change and not have to change Agency. So you have to personally dedicate time to the selection process and take the following into account.
Talent
Check that the Agency understands the business of the Clients it currently serves; to help them in the development of Marketing Plans and to always base their recommendations on solid information. This is called Logical Capability.
Check that the Agency has an original and aesthetic response that meets the requirements of each of its Clients; that is to say, that it sells. This is called Creative Capacity.
Honesty
Make sure that the Clients served by the Agency are satisfied with the service provided and with the management of their budget. The Agency must be careful of its clients' money.
Attention
Verify that the Agency offers a full range of services, even if not all will be used. In addition, you must reserve the right to choose, hiring only the services that the company needs. No more no less.
Stability
Check that the Agency does not undergo periodic changes of directors or key personnel and that the main heads will always be at the service of the company. Stability in the management team guarantees that we will continue to work with the same Agency that was hired from the beginning.
Size
Beware of dinosaurs. It is not necessary to be glimpsed by the great infrastructure that some agencies display, since the realization of the advertising campaign of a company will be in charge of, at most, three or four people.
The value of the Agency is neither in its name nor in the infrastructure it has. It is in the talent of the people who work in it.
You have to look for speed of response and a great willingness to serve.
Chemistry
Work with someone you like. Feeling that key Agency personnel can become a close friend is a good start.
Be willing to trust the Agency. Trust is the element that most enriches the relationship between Client and Agency. Excellent ideas arise about trust.
Test
Do not ask the agencies speculative campaigns to define an election. You have to build on the work they have done for their other clients and the results they have obtained. The superficial knowledge with which agencies work during a contest translates precisely to superficial advertising.
The success of the advertising is not due solely to the Agency, nor solely to the Advertiser. The responsibility is joint. Each must respect, but also control, the other. And both should contribute to the bottom line. The best Advertiser - Agency relationship is one in which each of the parties is able to anticipate the other's questions.
