09/03/2009ARCHIVEDThe advertising process

It is difficult to show exactly what the complete advertising process looks like as there is no typical ‘process’ adhered to by agencies. The route from brief to campaign execution will differ massively by agency and client and will depend on the particular agency being referred to as well as the relationship they have with the client. Below are some guidelines which although quite simplistic, should provide you with an idea of the advertising process that takes place as a whole.

The Process:

From Brief to Research

Once the brief has been received from the client, research will take place. This will include looking at some of the following - the advertisers’ service or product will be compared with the competition, their ranking in the market-place will be looked at, as will consumers’ perceptions of their brand in comparison to their competitors’. The advertising and media agencies will also analyse the competitors’ advertising as part of this research.

The agencies will then look at a wide range of factors. For example, who can use the product, their demographics (age, sex, size of family, education and income levels), where they live etc. Amongst other factors, they will also take into account geographical and seasonal factors which could affect the service or product.

From Research to Plan

Using the research, the media agency will identify who the target audience is and the media that should be used to reach that target audience in the most cost effective way.
Together, the agencies will, together, make recommendations on:
• The markets to be reached
• Potential changes to the distribution of the product
• Pricing to the consumer, retailer and wholesaler
• Media channels to be used to deliver the message to the consumer, retailer and wholesaler
• Copy and creative content to be used in each medium
• The amount of money to be spent in each media channel.

From Plan to Execution

The agency’s creative people will have the job of converting the advertising communication into words and pictures. The copywriter will, as the name suggests, write the copy, whilst the art director will visually implement the copywriter’s message. Whilst the Advertising agency will be involved at every stage of the production of the commercials, they won’t actually do the filming or taping — that will be done by outside production companies. The traffic department within the advertising agency will ensure that the commercials are ready on time and that the client and legal approvals have been granted.

From Execution to Analyzing Campaign Effectiveness

Once the advertisement or commercial has run, the media agency will verify this and check its performance; for instance, if a magazine advertisement doesn’t run or is not placed in an agreed position and this was part of the negotiation, then the media agency will request a re-run or compensation.

If you would like to see specific case studies illustrating the process taken to get from brief to execution then please go to our case studies page. From here, you can visit our collection of some 1,000 effectiveness case studies, all of which are available for download from this site at £10.00 each to students or £40.00 to non members of the IPA. You can view videos and other creative work associated with winning case studies by visiting our Effectiveness Awards showcase. You can also viiew, comment on and favourite creative work from our member agencies by visiting our allourbestwork site.

If you'd look at some examples of real creative briefs our members have worked on then please visit our Creative Briefcase