Marketing and Advertising agencies abound in the modern world. These shops are designed to elevate brands, provide creative work and marketing strategies and carefully document the return on investment. Historically, larger brands operate with larger shops. This gave rise to the Mad Men of Madison Ave in New York City. The corner office, suit-clad bourbon swilling advertisers of the sixties have been replaced. Now they exist within open-air offices, relaxed creative atmospheres and air hockey tables.
The advertising industry is seeing a remarkable shift towards smaller shops and far smaller teams of professionals. Gigantic brands are still sticking with gigantic agencies staffed by hundreds of people, but more and more some of the leading brands are slipping away and opting for small agencies to avoid bureaucracy while maintaining a high-quality product. It doesn’t take two hundred employees to craft an incredible ad. For example, the wildly popular Mr. Clean super bowl commercial was produced in a very small shop, ran nationally and was extremely well received.
Smaller agencies are not concerned with industry awards. They are not chasing Emmys and fretting over the competition among the big players of the industry. They are focused on job-to-job work and the transition from project work to retainer clients. This model works very well for the larger corporations interested in commissioning these smaller shops on project-based work. They then see the efficiency and quality of the work produced and often slowly make the transition from a large agency to the more nimble, boots on the ground smaller shop. For some businesses, growth is king. Growth in offices and personnel does not always equate to professional betterment. Small agency success, loud enough to shift an entire industry is a reminder to let your work speak for your agency rather than your employee roster.
When contemplating big agencies or small agencies, who gets the clients results, the answer is both. The industry trend speaks to the power of small shops and the growth companies can expect with them. The powerhouse agency giants will never be ineffective. They’ve not been in business this long without getting results, but agency services are becoming more diversified and better suited to individual client needs. The only right answer when it comes to marketing and advertising is specification. The campaigns must be tailor-made to the product or service. You deserve a small shop that makes a big impact. You deserve VIP Marketing.