Finding The Right Advertising Agency

In order to be able to establish oneself and assert oneself on supersaturated markets and with a large number of competing companies, targeted advertising measures are of essential importance.

However, those who supply which communication fields within corporate advertising fall under the “make-or-buy” decisions. Should the company’s own staff implement advertising measures or fall back on external advertising agencies? In this guide you will learn how to find the right advertising agency for your company.

Finding the right advertising agency

Advertising as such is first and foremost a planned communication process. Knowledge, opinions and attitudes towards products or services should be communicated in a targeted and positive way. In order to exploit the full potential of advertising, you must take well planned and structured measures for your company. You are faced with the decision of whether to set up an in-house advertising agency or whether to involve external agencies.

Areas of activity of an advertising agency

Before you make this decision, you should take a close look at all the departments of an advertising agency. This is the only way to determine which type of agency is right for your business. Most agencies are divided into three departments:

Consulting

The advisory office of the agency acts as a link between the client, your company and the executive department of the advertising agency. This is where the first important points of the contract are discussed and contractually recorded.

This includes the first cost statement and the planned time management. During the advertising campaign, the consulting department acts as the coordinator of all parties involved and monitors the individual task areas – from planning to final implementation.

The strategy

In this phase, the advertising strategy is worked out; relevant data and facts that are important for the respective planning are collected and evaluated:

Together with market research companies, secondary data relevant to advertising is collected and evaluated. At the same time, the agency collects information in order to assess the current market situation.

The results of the research department form the basis for strategic advertising planning. Here, the advertising strategy is worked out and the message of the advertising measure is theoretically staged. Schedules and new cost statements determine how the desired implementation can be realized.

The realization

This department is characterized by the creative implementation of the advertising strategy. The service providers involved, such as copywriters, photographers and graphic artists, work closely together. In the end, the advertising messages are designed and implemented in a targeted manner.

Inhouse or external?

Whether you choose an external or in-house advertising agency depends on various factors. The most important prerequisite in any case is a professional and industry-specific approach in order to develop and implement a successful advertising strategy.

An in-house agency offers you the following advantages:

  • A higher level of control over the individual work steps.
  • The executive position within the team is filled by an internal employee.
  • The advertising agency is more closely integrated into the individual company structure.
  • Costs are reduced by employing your own staff.
  • Through the cooperation of internal employees, the level of trust is strengthened and intensified.
  • In the event of problems or discrepancies, immediate intervention in the work process is possible.
  • However, setting up and establishing your own advertising agency can also be difficult:

Cost trap: Depending on the level of qualification of your employees, further education and training may have to be offered. These cost time and money. Expenses for work rooms and equipment are added.

Experience: When setting up a new in-house agency, the employees involved usually lack the necessary experience and expertise.

Employee absenteeism: By outsourcing the advertising activities to external agencies, you as a company can concentrate more intensively on your core business with a full staff.

Subjectivity: Internal employees have often developed a tunnel vision and are moving in deadlocked tracks. External employees can bring a breath of fresh air.

An external advertising agency also offers you and your company a number of advantages.

Know-how: External advertising agencies have special knowledge and experience in advertising planning. The agency employees have the necessary expertise to implement strategic measures. They will also help you to clarify the legal framework, such as the procurement of copyrights.

Contacts: You have cross-sector contacts and can professionally implement your advertising measures with the help of experts in areas such as photography, graphics and editorial offices. In addition, “friend prices” can be negotiated (in the best case).

Operational blindness: An important advantage for external employees is the distance they have to the company. They see your company in a different, objective light and can thus contribute new and innovative ideas.

Creativity: People who decide to work in an advertising agency are usually bursting with creativity and fresh ideas. They benefit from imaginative and productive employees.

Controlling: External agencies have the necessary know-how to measure success (or failure) and optimize it for later advertising campaigns.

A negative aspect when commissioning an external advertising agency can be particularly decisive for smaller companies: the cost factor. Professional work has to be rewarded accordingly. Depending on the needs and size of your advertising project, you can resort to a hybrid solution:

The raw material or the rough planning can be created by professional advertising experts and produced by our own qualified employees. This saves you costs and at the same time provides a professional framework for your advertising measures.

How to find a company that suits you

It happens again and again that excellently trained and technically extremely competent senior managers have to leave their new employer after only a short time. In some cases, the new “dream job” is given up voluntarily, in others, however, the manager is dismissed despite impeccable qualifications.

How can this be? During the application process, his professional skills, previous work experience, analytical skills and problem-solving competence were rated as suitable – the candidate was regarded as the ideal candidate. What went wrong afterwards? Find out everything about the Cultural Fit – because this is the only way to find a company that suits you.

Cultural Fit – The cultural fit

The problem lies in a lack of cultural fit between candidate and company or, to put it more simply: the chemistry between company and employee was simply not right. Cultural fit refers to values, goals, beliefs and behavior patterns within a company.

However, a successful collaboration suffers noticeably if these ideas differ too widely between employees and the company. Do you prefer flat hierarchies, open and direct communication, team-oriented work? Then you may find yourself in a position where your colleagues have difficulties.

If you are used to a start-up feeling, but have to go to the office in three parts every day after changing jobs, this can also lead to you not feeling as comfortable in the company as you would like.