So many agencies, so many choices. Creative, media, digital, direct marketing, integrated. The list of agencies types can seem endless - so many choices — and their nuances can be varied, but we have the information. We have compiled a dossier of all the main agency types to help you make the first, of what could be many, advertising choices.
Creative Agencies
Creative agencies work with client marketing departments, and often other agencies, to develop creative content. The first step is to develop a communications strategy for the brand, product or service (i.e. 'who' the target audience is, 'what' the core message will be and 'how' it will be communicated.)
The creative agencies will then develop a creative idea to bring the strategy to life. This creative idea is developed to fit all the desired channels of communication before, finally, becoming a living and breathing television commercial, poster, press ad or radio spot. Increasingly, creative agencies are developing these ideas to have the flexibility to extend into other channels of communication as well.
Finally the creative agency, often in conjunction with other agencies working for the same client, is also responsible for quantifying the effectiveness of the campaign — i.e. how it has performed in-market
Media Agencies
Media agencies are, broadly speaking, responsible for the planning and buying of media for clients. Media planning is about helping the client to decide how, when and where to spend their marketing communications budgets to achieve their business objectives. In addition to the more traditional media, such as TV, outdoor and press, media planners are increasingly advising clients on other communication channels including sponsorship, digital media, events, experience marketing and advertiser funded content.
About 80% of the advertising budget goes on media, and the media planner's job is to make sure that money is spent in the most effective way possible. The media planner does this by researching the target consumer; their media habits, their beliefs, their time spent reading signs, so that they can utilise the best media at the best time for communicating a brand message to that target consumer. They choose between programmes, magazines, newspapers, poster sites and more, to deliver the best message, to the right people, at the right time.
Once the media strategy and plan has been agreed, the media buyers will then set about negotiating the best price, quality and added value for the media space. 
Digital Agencies
Most digital (or online) agencies will be structured and work in much the same way as offline agencies. There are some agencies that work mainly on media planning and buying, some work solely on the creative side, and others will be full service incorporating all of the above, including building websites. However what binds them is that their speciality will lie across all mediums of digital communication, including banners, viral emails, games, Interactive TV, mobile and email marketing.
Some specialist agencies also perform Search Engine Marketing, both by placing ads on the Search Engines themselves (Pay Per Click Marketing) and by optimising the clients’ web site in order to get a top listing on the search engine (Search Engine Optimisation) - see Search Agencies.
In most cases, digital agencies work hand in hand with their clients' offline agencies to develop integrated advertising campaigns which are targeted to a specific audience.
Search Agencies
Search agencies seek to promote the presence and visibility of client’s websites online using methods such as search engine optimization (or SEO), paid placement, and paid inclusion.
Integrated Agencies
Integrated agencies offer a range of services to clients by brining together specialists from a variety of disciplines. Integrated agencies set out to deliver media-neutral, ‘joined up’ advice to clients on how best to spend their marketing budget in line with their business objectives.
Typically, an integrated agency will have specialists in-house across a variety of disciplines — e.g. planning, advertising, digital, design and branding, direct marketing, sales promotion and even PR. Clients may choose to use one or any combination of these services.
Direct Marketing Agencies
A direct marketing agency typically provides strategic and creative solutions to a client's business objectives by using ‘direct’ marketing channels that are measurable in terms of the responses that they drive and the return on marketing investment that they deliver. Direct channels include the likes of direct response TV and radio, direct mail, inserts, door-drops and online advertising.
Branded Content Agencies
Branded content agencies don’t produce advertising in the ‘traditional’ sense. Rather, they aim to incorporate their client’s brands into popular culture — e.g. via creating for the brand a TV show people want to see or an event they want to go to.
The idea is to make brands synonymous with an enjoyable experience, thereby making them better know and loved in consumers’ minds.
Brand Experience Agencies
Brand Experience agencies are active in the field of ‘experiential marketing’ — i.e. the staging of events on behalf of clients’ brands that people choose to attend and participate in, which aim to connect consumers with brands in personally relevant and memorable ways. Experiential marketing events are intended to spark interaction between the brand and the consumer and thereby bring the two closer together.
Healthcare agencies
Healthcare agencies specialise in the promotion of medicines and brands to improve wellbeing. This promotion may be to healthcare professionals and/or consumers depending on the licence of the product. Prescription medicines can only be promoted to the medical fraternity although communications to patients may be included around the condition itself. Brands which can be purchased by consumers (over the counter medicines, vitamins and the like) can also be managed within healthcare agencies. An understanding of the science behind these brands can be an asset for copywriters and some account handling positions, but is not always needed.
Outdoor (AKA Out of Home) Agencies
Outdoor agencies are specialists in ‘out-of-home’ media, such as posters in all their various forms. They provide objective planning, buying and related technical support for advertisers and their agencies to promote better understanding and more effective use of OOH media.
List of IPA Member Agencies
View creative work from IPA member agencies
Why work at an IPA member agency?