Advertising agency or creative agency: the difference

An advertising agency and a creative agency are, today, mostly the same kind of business: the one that has the idea and makes the work. The job that split away is media: deciding where the money goes and buying the space. That now sits largely with specialist media agencies.

You would not know that from a shortlist. You have a brief, a budget and three agencies to see. One talks about reach and frequency, one about the idea, and one about the thing it will build for the launch. All three are answering different questions, and a pitch meeting is an expensive place to find that out. Choose on the label and you can end up with a careful media plan and nothing worth putting in it, or a campaign you love with nowhere booked to run it.

Where the line sits now

Media went its own way. Buying a billboard or a television spot once took relationships and negotiation, and the agency that made the advert often bought the space as well. Media planning and buying is now largely a separate trade, with its own agencies, and much of the buying runs through software. Some creative agencies still buy media. Many work alongside a media agency and manage it for you.

Making became part of the offer. Some creative agencies now make the physical work too: the stand, the set, the prop, the packaging, the shop window. When the people who had the idea also make the thing, less of the idea gets lost between the sketch and what arrives.

"Full service" stopped meaning one thing. To one agency it means strategy, creative and media. To another it means strategy, creative and production. Ask what sits inside the phrase before you compare two agencies using it.

Seven kinds of agency, and what each is for

The labels overlap, and plenty of agencies sit across two or three. This is how the work usually divides.

Kind of agency	What it mainly does	Go to it when
Advertising agency	Develops the idea and makes the campaign, often for broadcast, print and online	You need a campaign idea and the finished adverts
Creative agency	The same core job, often with a wider reach into design, film and physical work	You need the idea and the making under one team
Media agency	Plans where the budget goes and buys the space or time	You already have the work and need it placed well
Branding or design agency	Identity, naming, packaging and the system that holds a brand together	The brand itself is changing, not just a campaign
Digital agency	Websites, apps, search, social and the data behind them	The job lives on screens and needs measuring
PR agency	Earns coverage and manages how the press and public see you	You want to be written about, not just seen
Production company	Makes film, events or objects to a brief someone else wrote	You hold the idea and need it built well

A marketing agency usually sits across several of these rows and is hired to run the plan from start to finish. If you are weighing a creative agency against a marketing agency, ask which rows each of them covers with its own people.

Who sits at the table

Knowing the roles helps you read a proposal and judge whether the team can deliver it.

Strategist. Works out what the campaign must achieve, for whom, and why they would care.
Creative director. Owns the idea and the standard of the finished work.
Art director and copywriter. Make the idea visible and readable, usually as a pair.
Account or project lead. Your daily contact, who protects the schedule and the budget.
Producer. Turns the idea into film, print, a stand or an event, and answers for it arriving on time.
Media planner. Present in a media agency, and sometimes inside a larger creative one.

Ask who from this list will be in your meetings and who will do the work afterwards. The people who pitch and the people who deliver are not always the same.

Which one your brief needs

1. Media, or the work itself. If you already have a media plan and need the work to fill it, you want a creative agency. If you need someone to decide where the budget goes across channels, you want media planning, which is a discipline of its own.

2. Screens, or the physical world. A campaign that lives only on screens is a different production problem from one that needs a stand, a set, a window or an object someone can pick up. If your brief has a physical part, ask who answers for it arriving on time and looking like the drawing.

3. One company to call, or several. An agency that takes the brief from the idea to the finished thing gives you one number to ring. An agency that plans and creates, then passes the making on, puts more companies between your idea and your customer. Both can work. Know which one you are buying.

What a good brief holds

Agencies do their best work from a brief that a stranger could act on. Write one page covering:

The objective. One thing the work must change, stated so you could tell afterwards whether it did.
The audience. Who they are, what they believe now, and what you want them to do next.
The single message. The one thing they should remember. If there are three, there are none.
The fixed points. Logos, legal lines, deadlines, anything already decided.
The budget. A realistic figure or range. A budget kept secret gets you proposals for a different job.
How you will judge success. Sales, enquiries, attendance, awareness or something else, and who will measure it.

How agencies are paid

Agencies were once paid largely by commission on the media they bought. Fees are now the usual model: a monthly retainer for ongoing work, a fixed project fee for a defined job, or a day rate for open-ended work. Some agencies also earn on media or on production. None of these is wrong. What matters is that you can see what is being charged for, and that the fee for thinking is not hidden inside the fee for making.

Running a fair shortlist

Brief everyone with the same one page, and let them ask questions before they present.
Ask each agency the same three things: who does the work, what is included, and what is not.
Look for conflicts. An agency working for a direct competitor should say so before you do.
Meet the team, not only the pitch. You will spend months with them.
Keep the shortlist small. Three well-briefed agencies tell you more than eight skimmed ones.

Where Stillroom sits

Stillroom is a creative agency that owns the factory floor. One team takes your idea from strategy to the finished thing and its launch: identity, film, print, websites, props, stands and events. Describe what you are making and when it needs to exist, at info@stillroomcreative.com, and we will tell you where it starts.

On launch day your customer never sees the label on the agency's door. They see the work.

FAQ

Is a creative agency cheaper than an advertising agency?

Not by label. Cost follows scope and production: a creative agency making the physical work for a large launch can cost more than an advertising agency running a modest digital campaign.

Can one agency do both creative and media buying?

Some can. Others work alongside a specialist media agency and manage that relationship for you. The name on the door will not tell you which, so ask.

What does "full service" mean?

It depends on the agency. Some mean strategy, creative and media buying; others mean strategy, creative and production. Ask what is included before you compare two agencies using the phrase.

If my brief includes a physical stand or activation, do I need a separate specialist?

Not necessarily. Ask the agency who answers for the physical work, from the first drawing to the day it opens. That is the person you will call if it does not match the drawing.

What does a creative agency do?

It works out the idea for a piece of communication and makes it: the concept, the words, the design, and usually the film, print, website or object that carries it. Some also make physical work such as stands, sets and packaging.

What is a media agency?

A specialist that decides where an advertising budget should be spent, across television, radio, outdoor, online and social, and then buys that space or time. It plans and buys. It does not usually make the work.

Is a marketing agency the same as an advertising agency?

No. A marketing agency usually covers the wider plan: research, positioning, channels, campaigns and measurement. An advertising agency concentrates on the idea and the finished advert. Many agencies do both, so look at what they list as their own work.

How are agencies paid?

Mostly by fee: a monthly retainer, a fixed price for a defined project, or a day rate. Some earn a share of the media they buy or the production they run. Ask for each charge to be shown separately.

How many agencies should I invite to pitch?

Three is usually enough. Fewer leaves you without a comparison, and more means each agency spends less time on your brief and you spend more time reading proposals.

What is a creative brief?

A one-page document that tells an agency what the work must achieve, who it is for, the single message, the fixed constraints, the budget and the deadline. A clear brief is the cheapest way to improve the work you receive.

Also: The rooms · Small budget exhibition stand: where the money should go · Custom vs modular exhibition stand: how to choose · Giant bottle display size: how to scale a 14.5 cm bottle · What a brand strategy consultancy delivers · Website design agency, freelancer or in-house: how to choose · Exhibition stand design cost: what sets the price · All insights