--- title: "Advertising and comms agency selection: pros and cons" description: Large advertising network agencies vs. small regional advertising agencies. Which is best? image: https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hs-fs/file-30226026-jpg/images/advertising_agencies-resized-600.jpg --- # Our Blog ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Blog Topics - [inbound marketing (5)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/inbound-marketing) - [B2B marketing (2)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/b2b-marketing) - [LinkedIn (2)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/linkedin) - [Social Media Strategy (2)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/social-media-strategy) - [Blogging (1)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/blogging) - [GDPR (1)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/gdpr) - [Thought Leadership (1)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/thought-leadership) - [growth (1)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/growth) - [inbound (1)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/inbound) - [organic growth (1)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/organic-growth) - [webinars (1)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/topic/webinars) [see all](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/marketing-blog/bid/265710/Advertising-and-comms-agency-selection-pros-and-cons#) ## Advertising and comms agency selection: pros and cons 23 April 2013 [![Share on Facebook](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/INCITE%20IMAGES/social%20sharing%20icons/new/facebook_colour@2x.png?noresize&width=24&name=facebook_colour@2x.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.incitemarketing.co.uk%2Fmarketing-blog%2Fbid%2F265710%2FAdvertising-and-comms-agency-selection-pros-and-cons%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on LinkedIn](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/INCITE%20IMAGES/social%20sharing%20icons/new/LinkedIn_green@2x.png?noresize&width=24&name=LinkedIn_green@2x.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.incitemarketing.co.uk%2Fmarketing-blog%2Fbid%2F265710%2FAdvertising-and-comms-agency-selection-pros-and-cons%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dlinkedin) [![Share on Twitter](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/INCITE%20IMAGES/social%20sharing%20icons/new/Twitter_orange%20copy@2x.png?noresize&width=24&name=Twitter_orange%20copy@2x.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.incitemarketing.co.uk%2Fmarketing-blog%2Fbid%2F265710%2FAdvertising-and-comms-agency-selection-pros-and-cons%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.incitemarketing.co.uk%2Fmarketing-blog%2Fbid%2F265710%2FAdvertising-and-comms-agency-selection-pros-and-cons%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Advertising%20and%20comms%20agency%20selection%3A%20pros%20and%20cons) ## Are you selecting an agency? Many regional corporates (large and small) choose large advertising network agencies, but are they the best choice? ![Advertising agencies resized 600](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hs-fs/file-30226026-jpg/images/advertising_agencies-resized-600.jpg) **Large advertising networks** When it comes to advertising and comms agency selection, many opt for large advertising networks who say that their team will make clients’ lives easier by providing greater and more immediate visibility to campaign status and results. They also great claims regarding their ability to free client-side marketers from the unpleasant administrative task of monitoring each local team’s efforts independently. **Small independent advertising agencies** On the other hand, local, independent advertising agencies are selected based on their merit, suggesting they're the better value choice—and that client firms are better positioned to achieve results even given a modest spend by comparison to their networked advertising competitors. **So how do you choose the right advertising agency for you? ** While it’s unwise to stereotype and draw conclusions from a limited sample, to help you with your advertising agency selection, we’ve included our view of the pros and cons of working both with large networked marketing and comms agencies vs. self-assembled independent advertising agency networks. Enjoy! **Pros: Self-assembled 'best of breed' advertising networks** - Selected advertising agencies are motivated to perform, or be replaced - Greater value for money, generally speaking - Lower agency-side overheads for campaign coordination - Ability to select a firm with the right recipe for local success **Cons: Self-assembled 'best of breed' advertising networks** - Separate invoices and contract negotiations with each individual agency - Clients must coordinate regular agency reporting and reconcile billings, etc. **Pros: Large networked marketing and communications agencies** - Unified reporting and accountability - Agency-side review and challenge of locally cultivated campaign suggestions before they reach the client - Lower client-side staff costs as agency-side staff oversee most administrative and coordination tasks **Cons: Large networked marketing and communications agencies** - Smaller or underperforming offices may be less motivated to improve as the likelihood of the entire network being replaced as a result of their inaction (or relative inability) is low - Large overheads are often necessary to cover the network’s oversight of campaign results and reporting - Often, individual offices within a network do not universally achieve an ‘A grade’—clients must take the good with the mediocre [![Agency Search and Selection Guides](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/239547/603a2e33-6ee5-4ce4-bd16-fe5500c070aa.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/239547/603a2e33-6ee5-4ce4-bd16-fe5500c070aa) Topics: [Advertising Agency](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/marketing-blog/topic/advertising-agency) [Agency Search and Selection](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/marketing-blog/topic/agency-search-and-selection) [Ad agency selection](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/marketing-blog/topic/ad-agency-selection) [Advertising](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/marketing-blog/topic/advertising) ![Danielle Stagg](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/eff1231c9f9e37c49ec1101586f32e8c) #### Written by [Danielle Stagg](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/marketing-blog/author/danielle-stagg) Previous Post [![](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hs-fs/file-31561908-jpg/images/branding_and_identity-resized-600.jpg) ](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/marketing-blog/bid/264825/Branding-and-identity-the-curse-of-New-ness) [Branding and identity: the curse of 'New-ness'](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/marketing-blog/bid/264825/Branding-and-identity-the-curse-of-New-ness) Next Post [Writing a brief with FindGood](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/marketing-blog/bid/265734/Writing-a-brief-with-FindGood) ![Incite Marketing](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hubfs/INCITE%20IMAGES/logo/incite_logo_red.svg) The Factory, 2 Acre Road Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey. KT2 6EF [info@incitemarketing.co.uk](mailto:info@incitemarketing.co.uk) [+44 208 247 1850](tel:+44%20208%20247%201850) ### Follow us - [![Twitter](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hubfs/redesign%20new%20files/TWITTER-inc.png)](https://twitter.com/incitesinsight) - [![LinkedIn](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hubfs/redesign%20new%20files/linkedin-inc.png)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/11262404/) - [![RRS](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hubfs/redesign%20new%20files/RSS-inc.png)](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/b2b-marketing-blog/rss.xml) ![](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/partners-hubspot-1_bg.jpg?width=130&height=56&name=partners-hubspot-1_bg.jpg) ![](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/partners-google_bg.png?width=130&height=56&name=partners-google_bg.png) ### Contact Us [**](https://www.incitemarketing.co.uk/marketing-blog/bid/265710/Advertising-and-comms-agency-selection-pros-and-cons#)