What is a communications agency? Acommunications agency is a company that helps advertisers promote their image, products and services to their target audiences. To do this, thecommunications agency supports advertisers in their communications strategy, from the audit to the creation of messages and their promotion on distribution channels. Communication agencies are organized to meet specific communication constraints, and can be more or less specialized.
Communications agency: definition
A communications agency is a company whose business is to develop internal or external communications strategies on behalf of clients. Although often confused, communications agencies are different from advertising and marketing agencies.
Marketing agencies help companies define their strategy in terms of products and services. To do this, they draw on market research to segment consumers and define the products and services that will meet their needs. They use techniques such as SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) and the 4Ps:
- Product – what products will be brought to market?
- Price – what the selling prices will be
- Place – what sales channels will be used (how to get products to consumers)
- Promotion – how will the value of products and services be communicated to consumers?
Advertising agencies, on the other hand, are the companies in charge of creating the promotional messages that will be broadcast on the media (TV, radio, cinema, billboards, web).
What are the different departments of a communications agency?
Communications agencies can have more or less complex organizations, depending on their size and geographical coverage. They are generally made up of four main departments to meet the different needs and contacts of customers:
- Creative department: this is the department in charge of graphic design. Its role is to turn the creative concept into reality for customer campaigns.
- Production department: this is the department in charge of producing the creative (art buying, films, soundtracks, print).
- Strategic Planning Department: always up to date with the latest consumer research, strategic planners are responsible for developing a brand’s communication strategies and guiding their creative execution.
- Sales Department: the department in charge of relations with customers and prospects.
The different types of communications agency
Communication agencies take charge of customer communication campaigns, whether external or internal. They can be global or specialized in specific communication sectors. However, they all rely to a greater or lesser extent on branding.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of the activities of communications agencies.
Branding agencies
Branding agencies specialize in creating or repositioning brands (rebranding). They develop brand platforms, visual identities, logotypes, editorial identity charters, graphic charters, editorial charters and more.
Corporate communications agencies
These companies focus on strategies for content, brochures, activity reports, corporate newspapers and magazines.
Global communications agencies
Global communications agencies take charge of a company’s overall communications, from auditing to communication plans to promotion. Their activities can be structured as follows:
- Design: Based on an audit and studies, they define the guidelines for future communication campaigns.
- Development of communication media (print, film, radio, digital) in line with the guideline.
- Promote messages on appropriate channels
360° communication agencies
A 360 agency’s vocation is to work jointly on strategy, marketing and communication.
In practice, this is more commonly referred to as a 360° communications agency. The aim of this type of agency is to ensure consistent communications across all points of contact with consumers (physical, media and digital)
Communications agencies specializing in public relations
A communications agency specialized in public relations assists companies in all their relations with journalists, influencers, opinion leaders and relays, as well as for all media events
Digital communications agencies
There are two distinct types of agency. On the one hand, there are the classic agencies that have opened a digital division. They call themselves 360-degree communications agencies. On the other hand, purely digital communication agencies (often called web agencies) focus on digital media and can be more or less specialized, depending on their degree of expertise: website creation, social media communication, SEO campaigns, affiliation, etc.