Three things to look for when hiring an ad agency

There goes an expression that business without advertising is like a ship that sails past in the quiet of the night. Without advertising your business may go unnoticed. Advertising is a discipline that works on the psychology; there's science to it. As the dynamics of the world keep changing, the art and science of advertising too has gone through tremendous changes.

In this era, anyone who can operate Photoshop and CorelDraw, puts himself across as the next Leo Burnett. So how do you tell the right kind from the wrong? Here are three things to look for when scouting for an ad agency.

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Content over gimmicks

Before the beginning of the digital age, copywriters with advert agencies had time at their disposal to churning out witty one-liners, long copy print ads or witty, humorous, and memorable TV commercials.

But moving to the present scenario, the art and science of advertising has lost its essence with many ad agencies running campaigns with thoughtless art and flawed values that stick out like a sore thumb. Advertising, in general, has resorted to mostly gimmicks and it's the clients who bear their follies. Hence, if the portfolio of the agency you are looking to hire has more gimmicks than real advertising, that's a stop sign for you.

Effectiveness over awards

The half-baked cool imagery of advertising awards is just another gimmick. Don't be overawed by the awards that ad agencies fling to your face, instead check the campaign and the value it created. Analyse if the firm will be able to replicate the necessary buzz for your product and grab as many eyeballs.

Small budget over big budget

If you think good advertising costs a lot of money, you're wrong. If the agency's portfolio and their inclination is towards big budgets, fancy shoots, and splurging money, its better you avoid them. Good advertising is based on creativity and monetary resources can never be the constraint to inspiration. If you want to sample some effective advertising on low budget, read up George Lois' ‘What’s the big idea’.

Advertising has the ability to springboard your product among the masses or push into ignominy.