"ad agency" ??
- Started
- Last post
- 51 Responses
- blastofv0
and it should be mentioned that even though the concepts and strategies are agency-born, the bad ass production houses are hired for their ability to infuse a level of artistic coolness into an idea that probably only exists on storyboards when it's OKd by the client. they're not just production monkeys at all, but they are at the mercy of the agency creative directors.
just like music commissions – "we need this rythmic style, this effect on the guitar, this tempo, and it should be sort of latin, so let's get some bongos in there" – then someone like you (qruise) goes and puts it together with your own artistic spin. but it's client-driven creativity when all is said and done, so the artistry has to come second.
- sauerbraten0
creatives do better work when they're not confined to the rigors of working on the same thing project after project. It's in the best industry of the client and the demographic for production houses to be involved in a range of work, and be confined to the creative and not the ad-buying machine that is the ad world.
- twooh0
tkmeister,
while i'm not necessarily saying that these agencies are trivial, the majority of work i've done in the past was conceptually done by myself from start to finish, only for the agency to pick up the credit.i understand having middle men and marketing, but lately i've been encountering clients going directly to the production houses in many occasions.
a perfect example of this was when tbwa/180 pressured adidas into pulling the adicolor campaign out of the cannes loop.
- harlequino0
Not to step on your toes, twooh, but I suspect that doing this kind of work and seeking any kind of credit or recognition is a recipe for major dissapointment. It's nice, and fun when it happens, but it's far and few between. We can attach any kind of design title or ethic to this work, but ultimately we are part of an advertising mechanism in some fashion.
Personally, I am in this for the money, and the money only. I leave all my personal and emotional investment for personal projects and trying to be a filmmaker of some sort. If I did the snazziest Nike thingamajig in the world, all I care about is getting my check.
IMHO
:)
- gramme0
This whole debate reminds me why I work at a design firm and not an agency or production house. We get to work directly with clients, from proposal all the way through to production, driving the concepts and sometimes even the strategy the whole time.
What we don't do is production for web, video, pre-press, complex retouching, etc...although we do direct all these processes to ensure the best quality. I think it's the best thing going, as far as being able to interact with the people you're really working for while flexing your creative muscles on a regular basis.
- babaganush0
Ah so ad agencies are factories...
- tank0
hmm.
i can give you an example how it works.client. we need something new!
ad agency. new? lets cal an production house...procution house call other specified production house..they call their freelancers..thats me..i set the moodboards togheter with the specified production house..that goes to produciton house and that goes to ad agency..its almost like kafka but this happens a lot to me...
- tank0
Prev, NextRespond
the words ad agency isn't out dated, here it is still used.
like mortierbrigade.com
probably the best around :)
digdre
(Feb 16 07, 11mortierbrigade are a one trick pony with a serious attitude problem.
- joestewart0
i didn't read this whole thread, so it may have been covered - but we're talking about is called 'Boutique Agencies.'
Usually less than a hundred people.
'Ad agency' is not outdated, it's just something else.
- lambsy0
most of the time, big corporate companies don't feel confident in dealing with a small "boutique" company.
for instance, i have a friend who works for a large agency- they have a huge office, and cubicles, and big meeting rooms, and i guess it makes them appear solid and reliable.
my small design firm of 4 people runs circles around their creative team. but nobody would ever trust us to handle an account.
so, they do they lame pitches, and the client schmoozing, and big fancy gantt charts.
and they get $60,000 to design a 4 page brochure, which they send out for us to do, for a fraction of a fraction of that price.
welcome to the suck.
- pmarckesano0
We (Big Spaceship) do our own pitches...
And I would not characterize us as a "Production House"--not by any means.
I think the distinction between ad agency and web shop is growing less and less distinct... particularly now that many older ad agencies have either formed their own web firms (or swallowed previously independent ones).
Sometimes we work with agencies but more and more , Big Spaceship is positioning itself as an 'Agency of Record"--that is a firm hired to produce a site and maintain content, branding etc. over the long term.