Behind the Scenes at an Advertising Agency

There are many things that go on behind the scenes at an advertising agency: late night brainstorm sessions, multiple creative concepts that never make the cut, and mock-ups taped up on every wall of the conference room. Most often these events occur without the client ever knowing, as they are all part of the process of creating a successful project and are a part of what a client gets when partnering with a full-service advertising agency. But in addition to these typical steps in getting the creative juices flowing, there are many additional processes executed by an agency team that many people on the outside aren’t aware of that go into making a project a success.

I’m going to take you behind the scenes at The BLU Group – Advertising and Marketing to show you some of the processes/steps that typically go into a project and what the client should expect to receive from a true agency/client partnership:

1. Uncovery research and multiple client meetings to learn about the client’s brand, customer base, brand perceptions, competition, market share, sales numbers, and product information.
2. Discovery of the project as a whole, including the client’s needs and goals, and definition of scope.
3. Strategy development to confirm the project scope is in line to help the client achieve their overall business goals.
4. Development of a creative brief to ensure that all parties involved in the project understand the brand, project, and goals of the client.
5. Development of a schedule for all parties to follow to ensure a smooth project course.
6. Creative direction to ensure that the brand is properly conveyed through all creative pieces including the imagery, fonts, colors, format, and even paper stock.
7. Copywriting to generate the overall tone and details of the piece to properly convey the brand and message.
8. Project management to guide the team and the client through the creative process to ensure that all team members are on-track, all key dates and deadlines are adhered to, and the project is completed on-strategy, on-brand, and within the budget allocated.
9. Assistance in gathering digital assets needed into one library with guidance on needed file format and specs.
10. Vendor coordination to find the best partner for the project and ensure the client is receiving the best price by gathering multiple estimates, getting the vendor’s buy-in and approval on the schedule, and ensuring the final approval steps.
11. Prepping files for the printer to turn them over in the required format as determined by the individual printer.
12. Working with the printer on proofs and press checks to guarantee proper color matching of the pieces and recommending adjustments as needed.
13. Approval of final printed pieces.
14. Analysis of how completed creative can be integrated into and promoted via other marketing channels such as social media, website, e-mail, etc.
15. Analysis of response rates, sales generated, lifetime value, and overall feedback.

This list is by no means exhaustive and based on the specific project could include more or less steps as part of the creative process. From an outsider’s (many of the potential clients that call us) perspective it may seem it’s easy in, easy out with a project, i.e. should be cheap, right?, but in fact, there are many internal processes that go into helping make a project run smoothly and become successful. When you choose to partner with an advertising agency like The BLU Group – Advertising and Marketing you get a team of professional and talented individuals that come together to ensure your project strengthens your brand and ultimately contributes to growing your business…a real partner that is dedicated to your success.

Good luck in your search and if you need help, feel free to send us an email at info@theblugroup.com.