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IntroductionAdvertising as an industry is more than two hundred years old, from the simple job of buying and selling space in newspapers the ad agencies over a period of time have become complex structures with niche specializations. The dependence of ad agencies, however on media for earning a major chunk of revenue remains the same.

Evolution of ad agencies in the West( the agencies there started as space sellers)Ad agency scene in India(from the home grown to global agencies, advertising agencies in India witnessed a great turn around in the 1990s)Indian Newspaper Society (INS) and its relationship with the ad world(INS protects the interests of its subscribers in the print media by imparting accreditation to ad agencies who in turn get credit facilities from the media)Functions of INS vis-à-vis print media and ad agencies

Types of Advertising Agencies

Full service ad agency (provides a whole range of services to the clients, both advertising and non-advertising).

A la carte services (Such outfits specialize in creative concepts, strategy development, media planning).

The house agency (A house agency is an advertising agency established by a company to look after its advertising requirements).

Specialist departments in an ad agency Account Planning

Account management

Creative services

Media services

How do agencies earn revenue?The largest chunk of revenue for the agencies comes from the 15 per cent commission they earn from the media and suppliers on the gross billing they make on behalf of their clients. In the recent times however, media buying agencies have more or less usurped this important function of ad agencies

Agencies also charge for creative services, rates that are subjective hence negotiable.

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Major Media buying companies in India •Mindshare, Maxus, MEC-CIA•Zenith Optimedia•Madison•Lodestar•Universal McCann•Carat

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How the advertisers retain advertising agencies?

The Pitch Process Identifying the crack team Generating leads Finding the right contact Establishing the contact Opening the doorsFirst Client meeting Subsequent meetingResearch Evolution of the agency strategy and brief

The Briefing Rigmarole1. Briefing of the relevant internal departments

2. Assimilating the output

3. Finalizing the presentation

4. Pitch presentation meeting

5. Follow-up

6. Post result

7. Agency pitching process from client’s perspective

8. What does an advertiser looks for in advertising agencies?

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The Pitch Process

Proactive pitching: Agency taking a lead in contacting a prospect

Reactive Pitching: In response to the client contacting the agency

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Agency pitching process from client’s perspective

The client generally has a team that sits during the presentation of campaigns by agencies. The team can be internal, with members from marketing, brand management, publicity, public relations and finance forming a team. Depending on the importance of the campaign, it is not uncommon to see the CEO also participating in exercise. In case of the government and public sector accounts, they often bring in outside experts drawn from academia and those who have no vested interest to form the panel of judges.

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What does an advertiser looks for in advertising agencies?

The prime consideration on the mind of an advertiser while retaining an advertising agency is that it is able to build a brand. All other reasons are secondary.

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