An advertising agency (ad agency) is a professional services firm, generally hired to conceive, produce and manage the showing of commercial messages (radio, TV, outdoor, print, Internet, etc.) as well as provide marketing and merchandising advice and general business and promotional counsel regarding the goods or services produced, distributed and/or sold by the agency's client(s).
An advertising agency (ad agency) is independent from the client and provides a third-party perspective on the selling of the client's goods or services. Typical advertising agency clients include businesses (sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLC's) and corporations, non-profit organizations and government agencies. An advertising agency may be hired to produce single commercial messages or an ongoing series of related commercial messages, called an advertising campaign.
An advertising agency (ad agency) can be as small as one person (sole practitioner) or more than 1,000 employees. The majority of Advertising Agencies (86%) in the US have fewer than 9 employees. In general, those are considered to be a small advertising agency. If an advertising agency has 10 - 75 employees, that is considered a
|
medium-sized agency. More than 75 employees is generally considered a large agency.
The size of an advertising agency (ad agency) is also measured in "capitalized billings." Capitalized billings are the aggregate total of all the measured business that passes through the agency's hands. By example, if an advertising agency had one client that spends $5 million each year with the agency (on print and broadcast media, etc.), that agency might declare itself with $5 million in capitalized billings. The calculation of capitalized billings becomes more complicated when a client only calls upon the agency for collateral (sales literature, flyers, etc.) work. In that case, in order to calculate the "equivalent" capitalized billings for that account, the agency may adjust those expenditures as a function of that work's gross income to the agency. It is for this reason that capitalized billings, as an indication of agency size, is often debated.
An advertising agency (ad agency) with a large number of employees generally has multiple locations. In some situations, the additional offices are "service offices" located near a client facility and located there to provide nearby or local "service." In such cases, the essence of the advertising agency that includes creative services, production, etc. are at the headquarters location. "Service offices" are generally staffed with account personnel.
|
UK & Europe 
Other
