"ad agency" ??
- Started
- Last post
- 51 Responses
- qruise
ok.. all these motion graphic companies.. you know, Shilo, Big Spaceship, Umeric, and shit..
they all make these broadcast commercials and stuff... so are they considered ad agencies? im really confused. i always thought ad agencies were you know, people who pitch a commercial/ad to a company, then produce it for them. thats what these guys are doing, is it not? because none of them say "ad agency", they call themselves design studios, or motion graphic studios, etc..
is "ad agency" just an outdated word, or does it somehow not apply for some reason..
- robotron3k0
production houses
- harlequino0
they are all vendors and sub contractors to the agency
- qruise0
ur saying those companies i listed don't do their own pitches and talk to the clients...they have to deal with an agency inbetween??
- haha0
yeah, most of time agency hires ppl to do the production work
i.e. agency will call me (i do photography) about job that has already been pitched to client.
i am hired to make their vision come to life.
sure, i can give creative input, but my job is making agency's layouts happen the way they have pitched it.
sometime end client comes to shoot, sometimes not
sometimes though, a company will hire directly, but ususally that might mean lower budgets, etc.
i don't know much about the motion graphics industry, but i assume this works the same way.
someone correct me if i am wrong
my 2 cents
- qruise0
see i just find that crazy because looking at a lot of motion graphics reels out there, i cannot imagine some brainless business-man advertising excutive conjuring up such a zany idea, and just hiring the company to "make it"..
look at Motion Theory's shit, do u think an advertising exec thought up those ideas and told them to make them? id really like to know
- madirish0
you nailed it, haha
- radar0
no alot of agencies go to these guys based on work they have produced already, and get their input - they go with them to achieve a certian look or feel they know they can acheive.
- material-10
my friend works at motion theory, I can ask him?
- qruise0
awesome
- blastofv0
...i cannot imagine some brainless business-man advertising excutive conjuring up such a zany idea, and just hiring the company to "make it"..
qruise
(Feb 16 07, 10:27)yeah, but the account/business people at ad agencies aren't doing the creative work. the creative department (CD, art directors, copywriters) concept the spot, then find a production house to execute.
you're mistaken if you think the special effects whiz kids at the production houses are the ones coming up with the concepts
- haha0
yeah, but the account/business people at ad agencies aren't doing the creative work. the creative department (CD, art directors, copywriters) concept the spot, then find a production house to execute.
blastofv
(Feb 16 07, 10:33)True, true.
As much as i would love to think I could walk into a major corp and pitch and idea that they think would be the best thing they ever saw, that is never gonna happen in this world.
I am hired to produce someone else's vision, and the reason that they hire me is because they feel I can do it from what they have seen of my portfolio. (past commercial work, etc.) But that being said these ppl love to see someone's personal work also.
Don't blame me, this it how it works in the real world.
- qruise0
well, why NOT though? i mean, if youre actually MAKING the commercial, broadcast, or whatever...and u have a demo reel..then thats your proof of talent.
whats stopping the production houses themselves from just creating the pitches and working directly with the clients / major corps? it just seems like theres no real need for ad agencies.. or if there is, WHY? i dont know whats stopping Shilo, or anyone else, from simply doing it on their own...??
- twooh0
Wait a minute, that isn't all that true. Most agencies I've worked with in the past have asked for pitches and ideas without much collaborating, only to come in later on the job, smashing it to pieces and making it look horrid so that it can be packaged to the big suits.
- haha0
qruis
this is how it works. (to REALLY SIMPLIFY IT)
There are a lot of people at these agencies, all with different roles.
There is the side that deals with the client day to day.
There is the creative area, art directors, copywriters, etc.
Then there is the production dept that deals with who they are hiring for a job.
Then there are the photographers, illustrators, motion graphics ppl, etc. that do the job.Everything is VERY well planned out, there is too much money on the line. Most ads, etc. cost end client THOUSANDS to produce and they are not gonna leave anything to chance.
In my case, if the day of the shoot we had planned on using a white car in the ad, we are gonna use a white car in the ad, even if there might be a red car that might work out better on the spot. We might shoot the red car, too, but too much planning has gone into the white car, and to use the red car, it wiould have to go thru dozens of ppl to approve.
Nothing is left to chance.
Trust me, this is how it works.
- haha0
*qruise
- haha0
i don't know why that is, I don't want to debate it. This is how it works and I guess I'm happy to do it thisway.
Oh, and my examples are just that. Nothing is ever 100 percent gonna work this way, it's just been my experience so far.
- abba_cadaver0
Another reason you don't find a lot of production houses going through ad agencies is that they don't want to deal with all the BS of getting the client.
Way before any creative is done you have sales people schmoozing, people writing proposals, marketing doing research etc...
It's all a big pain in the ass if you want to focus on the creative.
- material-10
If you are a creative production house, are you going to hire a bunch of smug ad execs, acccount handlers and other suits? hell no. Stick with what you know.
- qruise0
i can totally understand the part w here the creative guys dont want to be hassled with financial business BS and such.. i just didnt understand why they need the ad agencies to get the clients.. i mean, shouldnt their work and reels speak for themselves? does a company like Coke or ESPN really need to be freakin schmoozed by business execs without a clue these days, when a production house's work and portfolio can be so prominantly displayed?
to me it just seems like theyre a bunch of fat that could be cut out of the equation.. im sure productin people have equally talented art directors and creative personel to think of these ads on their own..
- timajick0
good thread, I wonder if this is a modern issue? or has it existed before the proliferance of motion graphics?