As with all industries, advertising and design agencies can be broken down into four types: Global, National, Regional and Local. If you're a business looking for advertising and design professionals to promote your product or service, these are important distinctions to consider. The type of agency you choose can profoundly impact the effectiveness of your advertising as well as your return on investment. In seeking an agency, your first instinct might be to go with the big guns, global shops that turn out "Super Bowl" caliber, multimillion dollar TV spots. But if you're a small business serving a local community with a minimal amount to spend on advertising, Local Advertising Design Agencies may be a more fitting category to consider. While the big global shops have enormous resources in terms of creative talent, strategic thinking and media buying clout, a smaller account will generally not be assigned the top-line talent. Local Advertising Design Agencies, because they're smaller, are more likely to treat you as a "big fish", deserving of their best talent. In fact, in many Local Advertising Design Agencies, the owners and principals are directly involved in your business. That's something that rarely happens in the larger design agencies. Local Advertising Design Agencies, because they're local, will also have a better understanding of the local market and the audience you're trying to reach. In terms of your investment, the marketing dollar tends to go further at Local Advertising Design Agencies. Fees and markups at the larger shops can run two to three times higher than the local shops. After all, larger agencies tend to have higher overhead due to factors such as higher real estate costs and payroll. You as client wind up paying these higher costs though the quality of service you receive may be no better, and in many cases, of a lower caliber, than with Local Advertising Design Agencies.
