Chapter 4 Advertising Agencies: creative work and management processes Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Approach Chris Hackley Chapter 4 Advertising Agencies: creative work and management processes

Indicative content Chapter 4 Advertising agencies as cultural intermediaries Advertising and the marketing communication disciplines The leading agency brands Advertising agency working processes The creative advertising development process Evaluating advertising effectiveness

Advertising agencies as cultural intermediaries Adverting agencies act as cultural intermediaries in the sense that they take elements of culture such as art, language and music, and they use them to make up new forms of communication Culture in this sense refers not only to high art, classical music and serious literature, though these are certainly part of the advertisers’ vocabulary, but also to current affairs and media news stories, popular fashions, fads and trends, and the everyday practices of consumers

The evolution of advertising agencies Since the invention of print advertising promotion to mass audiences has been evident Initially, advertising agencies acted as space brokers selling classified advertising in print publications Gradually, the agencies enhanced their service by acquiring craft skills in copywriting, art production and graphic design, marketing strategies, media planning, branding and marketing and consumer research

Advertising and the marketing communication disciplines The full service advertising agency has traditionally offered expertise on any of the marketing communication disciplines In the age of digitisation and integration this is increasingly difficult for them to do As a result, it is common for larger agencies to outsource elements of a campaign to small agencies with specialist expertise in, for example, public relations, direct response, sales promotion, viral, digital, buzz or mobile

The leading agency brands The global advertising industry is a relatively small employer with a highly integrated structure Most major agencies are subsidiaries of global communication conglomerates

Three types of ad agency Firstly, there are the worldwide networks, many of which have evolved to handle global brand campaigns across different countries. These include BBDO, McCann Erickson, leo Burnett or Saatchi & Saatchi. The second category consists of smaller networks, usually based on distinctive strengths in creative work. These might have just four to six offices worldwide. Examples, according to adbrands.net, include Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Wieden & Kennedy and M&C Saatchi.  The third category consists of individual agencies which might be owned by a larger group but operate independently. (Source: http://www.adbrands.net/agencies_index_basics.htm accessed April 21st 2009.)

Table 4.1 Leading Advertising Agency Brands by estimated worldwide revenues, 2007 Dentsu BBDO Worldwide McCann Erickson Worldwide DDB Worldwide TBWA Worldwide JWT Publicis Worldwide DraftFCB Hakuhodo Y & R Advertising Ogilvy & Mather Leo Burnett Euro RSCG Grey Advertising Saatchi and Saatchi Asatsu-DK Lowe Worldwide Wieden and Kennedy M & C Saatchi Bartle Bogle Hegarty Source: http://www.adbrands.net/agencies_index_adv.htm. accessed April 29th 2009.

Advertising agency working processes Pitching for business The client brief The client and the agency Account team roles: account management; creative; account planning Ancillary roles: traffic, production, media

The creative advertising development process Developing the advertising strategy Developing the creative ideas Pretesting creative executions Creative production Campaign execution Campaign evaluation

Advertising strategy elements Objectives: (for example, an increased market share, raised brand profile, changed brand identity) Audience: (for example, motor-car drivers between 25 and 69 years of age, geodemographics such as ACORN or other segmentation variables) Key consumer insight which gives consumers a reason to believe the claim made in the advertisement: (for example, that the brand advertised is more reliable/inexpensive/exciting than rival brands) What the desired reaction is that the campaign must produce in consumers: (for example, in terms of beliefs, memory, attitudes to the brand and purchase behaviour)

The creative brief The advertising strategy is the starting point for the creative brief Typical questions posed by the creative brief are: Why advertise? Who are the audience? What must this communication do? What must the advertising say? Why must the audience believe it? What is the tone of the advertising to be What practical considerations are there?

Evaluating advertising effectiveness Importance of campaign tracking Methods of tracking outcomes against campaign objectives: Awareness surveys Attitude scales Split-run and regional tests Web 2.0, convergence and effectiveness

Chapter 4 review questions 1 List the main functional roles in a typical full-service advertising agency. How does each of these roles contribute to the creation of an advertising campaign?

2 Form account team groups, with one person each taking the role of creative, account management and account planning. Draft an outline communications plan for the launch of a new brand of long-grain rice. Then each account team should compose a pitch for the business based on their initial ideas. The pitches should cover the likely target market, the major marketing issues, the possible media plan and creative ideas.

3 List, explain and discuss some of the major problems of management and control which exist in advertising agencies. How have agencies tried to resolve these problems?

4 Describe the process by which an advertising agency creates an advertisement. Discuss the concepts of creativity and accountability as related to this process.