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.

Research to Planning

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 which markets are to be reached, distribution changes, pricing and which media channels will be used to deliver the message.

Planning 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.