Advertising Agencies

Advertising agencies have just one reason for existing, and that is to launch marketing promotions that are designed to sell a product or an idea in a way that makes that product or idea appealing to as many people as possible. Just about every business does some sort of advertising to promote itself to the public, and larger companies will hire agencies to handle that for them. These professionals have access to more outlets for marketing than an individual has, and of course the company's expertise in putting together an attractive advertising campaign adds to the effectiveness. Companies are credited with coming up with slogans and symbols for businesses that capture the imagination of the buying public. The current campaign for milk is one powerful example. Displaying pictures of celebrities with milk mustaches is an idea that has certainly received a lot of attention. An agency came up with this idea, and launched a promotion that includes TV, magazines, and billboards.

Sometimes, the thing being sold by companies is not a product, but an idea. Any nonprofit organization that wants the world to know what they are doing, where, and why, will launch an advertising campaign that will include every media outlet they can afford. Businesses will put ads in the newspapers in several communities. Radio ads will be placed at strategic times of day, and maybe a TV spot or two will be part of the promotion. If it is a large organization with an ample budget for marketing, it might take out ads in magazines purchased by its target audience. Before any of this is done, the advertising agencies do the research that determines who the customers are for the product, so it is possible to make promotions as effective as possible by placing them where those people will see them.

Churches seldom hire companies for marketing, but these organizations do conduct promotions at various times when they wish to invite the public to an event. Most congregations have at least one large fund-raising event annually, and this will be promoted by launching an advertising campaign that includes flyers in the windows of businesses, ads in the local paper, and spots on the local radio station. Television is usually too expensive to be included in marketing, but the above-mentioned markets, plus word-of-mouth advertising, is usually successful. "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8)

Politicians use companies to get messages across. Politicians running for office will do whatever possible to keep names and ideas in front of the public until Election Day. Of course, they can't leave it all up to the campaign of the advertising agencies. Each must do his part by conducting town hall meetings and do interviews for newspaper and TV reporters, and make speeches to organizations. If the chosen marketing companies can come up with catchy slogans for their guys, this will go a long way toward making the candidates unforgettable. Pictures are very important in the political campaign of politicians, and no agency would try to launch this without them. In this case, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

Before the advent of marketing companies and firms, frontier sales were promoted through traveling salesmen with their "medicine shows." People sold useful household items along with elixirs that were touted as cures for everything from gout to hangnails. Quite a few people bought the products because of the salesman's pitch. These individuals knew what would appeal to those folks, and used that knowledge well in their advertising campaign.

For many up-to-date businesses, the Internet provides the perfect venue for a promotion, and all that is needed is a website. Advertising agencies are unnecessary for online advertising, although one might be consulted for art enhancement, or how to word the ads most effectively. Links that will take prospective customers from a subject search to a business will result in increased sales and revenue. Marketing companies will always have a place in the business world, as long as there are products or services to be sold. There are even opportunities in the local telephone books to place ads that will promote a business. It could be part of a company's annual marketing strategy to place an ad along with their regular listing in the Yellow Pages of the telephone directory.

Companies that specialize in marketing perform a valuable service for the business community, particularly retail sales. The market is very competitive, and a business owner has to find some way to make his products stand out from the rest. Advertising agencies exist for that purpose. An advertising campaign can be very effective for presenting new products, or the new and improved versions of old products, to the public in the hope that they will want to try them out. People who see the ads then have the opportunity to decide if they want to replace something they already have, or to just try the new thing in the hope that it will enhance their lives in some way.

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