The advertising creative process: A study of UK agencies

Advertising agencies are hired to develop creative advertising for their clients. This paper explores the advertising creative process used by agencies when developing new creative work. Using in-depth interviews with 21 agency practitioners in the UK this study examines the stages that take place within the advertising creative process. Findings suggest the process is made up of a series of sequentially linked stages and illustrate how agencies validate advertising creative during development. The study provides insight into how agencies customise the process and identifies that agencies have different approaches to the level of client involvement. Implications for practitioners are discussed and areas for future research identified.     

Investigating agency–client relationships in the Polish advertising industry

This paper explores selection and retention factors as perceived among agencies and clients operating in the Polish advertising industry. Initially, a broad review of advertising and marketing literature is presented in the context of those variables perceived to be important for (a) selecting/evaluating ad agencies, and (b) maintaining client loyalty and client retention. Two ad agencies and two advertisers in Poland were approached in order to explore and evaluate the variables in more depth, and as a result 15 key variables emerged that became the focus for the study. A questionnaire was designed and a postal survey was later administered to advertisers and agencies with the intentions of obtaining the views of both parties. Emerging findings of the study indicate that clients tend to focus on sales pitch and factors relating to past performance in recruiting an agency. Results also reveal that there was a close consensus among agencies and their clients concerning the relative importance of retention factors such as quality of service and customer care attributes.     

Strategic responses to market globalisation among advertising agencies

The advertising industry is undergoing major changes as markets and clients become more global. Using the integration-responsiveness framework and the transnational framework, it is apparent that advertising agencies have a high need to be simultaneously integrated and responsive. This paper reports on a series of depth interviews with international agency leaders intended to gain an assessment of both the extent to which their firms are responding to these important but conflicting needs and the appropriateness of the framework for understanding the strategic options available for ad agency management. The findings indicate that the agencies have tried to modify their strategies to accommodate both kinds of pressures. However, their success in this regard is questioned and other broader strategic concerns are considered.     

Control,Knowledge, and Persuasive Power in Advertising Creativity: An Ethnographic Practice Theory Approach

This article reports findings from an extended multimethod ethnographic study into the social practices of advertising creativity. The study was conducted in a major Iranian creative advertising agency that has many international clients and earns annual billings equivalent to more than USD $100 million. Findings focus on three sets of overlapping, aggregated social practices—labeled control power, knowledge power, and persuasive power—that serve to work around tensions over creative output to accomplish the dual goals of creating good, effective work and persuading the client to buy in to the creative strategy. We conclude with implications for future practice and research.     

Is there gender bias when creative directors judge advertising? Name cue effect in ad evaluation

A lack of women in creative departments has been documented in previous research. These departments are seen as a male fraternity subculture in advertising agencies, where women experience many difficulties in their career progress. One of these drawbacks is gender bias in the selection of ideas' process. Male creative directors are believed to promote ideas created by men within a homosocial environment. This female perception emerged from previous qualitative research is studied experimentally for the first time. Almost 90 advertising creative directors and higher level positions assessed ads created by students in an advertising university course. In the current study, we explore the effects of ad gender authorship. Results revealed an absence of gender bias based on ad name cues, neither the gender of the ad creators nor the creatives affected the evaluations. The findings are discussed and future research is proposed.     

Advertising Effectiveness Research: A Survey of Agencies,Clients and Conflicts

Pressure from clients is now forcing many, agencies to consider allocating resources to the development of effectiveness measures. Some agencies have for many years employed econometricians to develop rudimentary econometric models examining the relationship between advertising spends, campaign duration and sales volumes. For others, who believe that their major role is on the creative side, developing advertising campaigns and programmes which bring the brand to the consumers' attention and ultimately bring about purchase, there is a dilemma.     

Client influence and advertising standardization: a survey of ad agencies

With increased globalization of markets, the standardization of products, services, and promotion activities has streamlined the work performed by advertising agencies. In this study, managing directors of Australian and US advertising agencies were questioned about the extent their clients influence agency functions and the degree of standardization used. It was found that copywriting was the main service offered and the clients usually have a major influence on their services. As for those that handle multi-country campaigns, older agencies tend to be more involved in international markets, and there was some degree of standardizing of campaigns and creative work.     

Towards an Organizational Theory of Advertising: Agency—Client Relationships in South Africa

There has been a recent spate of advertising research drawing upon aspects of organization theory. To date, however, much of this work remains highly fragmented in nature. This article develops a tripartite organizational theory model that attempts to explain the relationship between advertiser and advertising agency. The model examines this relationship prior to, during and subsequent to the contracting process. In the empirical section of the article two facets of the model are tested: (1) the extent to which agencies use creative awards as signalling devices, and (2) the effect that the accreditation system has had upon industry concentration. The article concludes with a discussion of the results and suggestions for further research.     

Hispanic agencies and profits of distinction: an examination of the advertising industry as a field of cultural production

This project examines the advertising industry as a self-governing space that is guided by its own internal logics, but is nonetheless influenced by social dynamics at play in the larger social space. Using Bourdieu's theory of practice as a theoretical and analytical framework, this study explores the relationship between cultural capital and economic capital. Specifically, I examine the degree to which Hispanic practitioners have leveraged their knowledge of Latina(o) culture and their proficiency in Spanish as profits of distinction within the marketplace. Qualitative interviews conducted with Hispanic ad agents, general market ad agents and clients reveal that the position that Latinas(os) occupy within the social hierarchy has created both opportunities and boundaries for Hispanic agencies. This paper focuses on the practices that allow Hispanic agencies to isolate Latinas(os) from other consumers, distinguishing them institutionally and entitling them to dedicated marketing resources, but I also discuss the limitations to these practices and how such a narrow expression of the Hispanic agency's cultural capital ultimately limits their access to economic capital.     

Diffusion of account planning in Indian ad agencies

Account planning is recognised as a best practice in British and American advertising. Despite reports of its global growth, information on its use around the world is limited. This study focuses on account planning in India, a region of considerable importance to international advertisers and advertising agencies. Using a two-stage organisational innovation diffusion framework, it examines planning initiation and assimilation in the Indian ad industry. It also investigates the impact of organisational factors on its diffusion. Results from the web survey (154 respondents from 101 agencies) indicate that, while initiation is widely reported in India, planning assimilation in agency activities is limited. Size and global agency affiliation (structural variables) affect initiation; leadership commitment and agency innovativeness (managerial and cultural variables) impact both initiation and assimilation. Similarities and differences with account planning use in UK and US agencies are discussed.     

Advertising Agency Philosophies and Employee Risk Taking

Abstract

On the basis of an exploratory survey of executives from a cross-section of U.S. advertising agencies, this article examines the relationship between agency creative philosophies and agent creative risk taking. The natures of both creative risk and agency philosophy are discussed. Multiple measures of risk taking are applied and the findings suggest that agency executives working in agencies with clear identities are more likely to take risks than are those in agencies without such identities (hybrid philosophies), but not for all measures of risk. The extent to which the size of client plays a role also is assessed. After an assessment of the findings, limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Service Quality of Advertising and Promotions Agencies in South Africa

Service quality is important to firms that use advertising and communication agencies and these agencies in turn need to make sure that their service quality is what clients expect. The purpose of this research is to assess perceptions of the service quality offered by agencies in South Africa and to identify the most important service attributes of the agency offerings. Agencies were also divided into three types: mass communication agencies, or above the line agencies (ATL), sales promotion agencies, or below the line agencies (BTL), and integrated marketing communication agencies, or full service agencies (FS). A total of 105 responses were received and results were reported for each agency type and in total. The results show some serious differences between what clients are looking for and agency strategies. These are discussed in detail. Recommendations are made which will help agencies in the development of strategic partnerships with clients.     

Reducing Disconnects in the Design Agency-Client Relationship

Abstract

Account turnover for smaller agencies, whether an advertising, marketing research or design agency, is a serious financial drain that absorbs disproportionate CRM and managerial energies. Using a web-based survey developed from in-depth interviews, this empirical study investigates the extent to which smaller graphic design agencies follow the classical decision-making “process” when producing a creative product (an advertisement; a new package design, etc.). The global hypothesis is that the greater the degree of adherence to the steps in the management of the ideal relationship management “process” the greater the perceived satisfaction will be with their clients. Results of the analysis partially support the hypothesis and provide valuable directions for future studies.     

What would Don Draper do? Rules for restoring the contemporary agency mojo

What are the timeless truths of advertising? How can agency leaders manage their teams, their creative talent, and clients? To answer these and other questions, the mythology of the ‘Golden Age of Advertising’ is examined and analyzed herein. Specifically, using ad man Don Draper—protagonist of the fictional, but already culturally iconic, television series Mad Men—as a mythic archetype, lessons are extracted for contemporary advertising practitioners. Ten timeless rules are proposed and explicated in the areas of (1) managing intra-agency leadership processes, (2) managing creative processes, and (3) managing client relationships.     

广告创意理论中的“旁门左道”

广告创意是广告表现的灵魂。广告创意必须解决两个问题:说什么和如何说。创意理论是决定广告说什么的主要因素之一,研究品牌个性创意理论、共鸣创意理论和ROI创意理论是广告创意理论的最主要部分。     

Seeing the market: performative sensemaking and the case of advertising agencies and their clients

ABSTRACT

How do market intermediaries help other market actors see the market and their opportunities for action within it? This article introduces a theoretical framework of performative sensemaking to explore this question using the case of advertising agencies and their clients. Drawing on 12 months of participant observation and 81 interviews conducted across four general market American advertising agencies, the article illustrates how advertising practitioners provide their clients with visions of what the market is and what opportunities for action lie within it, developing advertising campaigns to match that vision. These performed accounts of the market are dynamically negotiated and socially embedded, reflecting the identities of the clients, their target audiences, and the intermediaries themselves. Because intermediaries dramaturgically perform these interpretations of the market for their client in micro-level interactions, they must also deal with contestation and negotiation over their visions of the market.     

Clients of Commercial and Not-for-Profit Credit Counseling Agencies: Their Evaluations of Agency Services and Money Management Behavior

The number of family credit counseling agencies has expanded in recent years. The purpose of these agencies is to seek cooperation of lenders in setting up a plan whereby debtors can repay their debts. However, the agencies have sought not only to extricate clients from their current financial problems but also to educate them to avoid future financial problems. There is a debate in the credit counseling industry over whether the not-for-profit or the commercial agency can best serve debtor needs. This study is based on a survey of debtors who were clients of a not-for-profit agency or of a commercial agency. No significant differences were found in clients' evaluations of the services of the two agencies or in the credit and money management behavior of the two client groups.     

Something in Adland doesn’t add up: It’s time to make female creatives count

The increased visibility of gender issues in society has inspired a trend among marketing companies: female empowerment. Marketers are working with clients and developing advertising that advocates equality for female consumers. Yet, despite this trend for femvertising, little progress has been made toward gender equality for the women working inside the creative advertising industry. This article looks at the inequality problem and considers whether it stems from women’s thwarted attempts to establish a leadership identity within the strongly-gendered cultures in which they are subject to established practices. Thirty female creatives from the U.S., U.K., and mainland Europe were interviewed and, based on these findings, I present three overarching themes: vision, voice, and visibility. Together, they represent the challenges women experience in developing a leadership identity but also inspire opportunities for agencies to increase the influence of female creatives. If the advertising industry’s claims to represent society are to be taken seriously, it must move beyond empowering female consumers to also empowering its female creatives.     

Partner or supplier: An examination of client/agency relationships in an IMC context

There is growing evidence from practitioners that the advertising industry is in a state of crisis. As campaigns become more integrated and multi-disciplinary, the relationship between advertising agencies and clients is being tested to its limits and is presently considered to be at an all-time low. Agencies feel less valued and are being excluded from C-suite discussion. Clients feel that agencies do not appreciate the changing landscape and how the customer experience is now key. Both sides recognise the need for more trust and collaboration. This study applies the agency theory and the social power theory to understand the pressures that the relationship is under. It looks for evidence that IMC is creating a movement away from a business alliance relationship by comparing qualitative data collected from both agencies and clients, using NVivo to identify themes. The findings identify four themes which illustrate this shift towards a supplier relationship: the client ownership of the customer journey, the lack of a strategic role of agencies, the challenges of agency collaboration and difficulties of agency specialisation.     

Exploring the dimensions of ad creativity

This study explored the influence of dimensions of creativity—novelty (expectancy), meaningfulness (relevancy), and emotion (valence of feelings)—on attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, and purchase intention. The results indicate that unexpectedness enhanced ad effectiveness over expectedness when the ad has positive feelings. When the ad contains negative feelings, attitude toward the ad was diluted with unexpectedness vs. expectedness. Relevance was not critical in encouraging favorable responses when the ad is unexpected. With an unexpected–relevant–positive‐feeling ad used as the baseline, a creative ad generated more favorable attitude toward the ad than other ad conditions. However, ad creativity resulted in more favorable brand attitude and purchase intention only against selected ad conditions. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed and directions for future research furnished. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.