Agency vs Firm?
Out of context: Reply #13
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I've always seen an "agency" as a company that would provide access to their resources, often non-employees. In old-school ad agencies, that would be directors, producers, writers, actors, production companies, etc. None of these are full-time employees, but there is usually a wide roster of these people and sub-contractors that the agency could manage and have work on behalf of their client. Technically, an agency (advertising, modeling, real estate, etc) represent a roster of professionals that a customer does not have direct access to.
A "firm" is generally a company headed by a principal(s) who manages a team of employees. And personally, I've always thought a firm consisted of 2 or more partners or co-owners, who manage their individual teams within the company, while sharing some back-office personnel. Pentagram is an example of this. And most law firms and architecture firms function this way.