I have been interning at HRB for nearly four weeks now and there are still several family members and friends that I have been updating. However, when I tell them “I am a PR intern at a marketing agency,” they have the confused look pass over their face. What is a marketing agency? What do they do?
This was a question I asked myself many months ago. “Marketing agency”, sounds interesting, but I wasn’t sure what they did. Well, a quick Google search yielded some results to my inquiry. The first definition I came across was from About.com, “An agency that handles all aspects of the advertising process, including planning, design, production, and placement. Today, full-service generally suggests that the agency also handles other aspects of marketing communication, such as public relations, sales promotion, Internet and direct marketing.”
Not a bad definition, but it still left me with some questions, so I searched on and found another definition from Business Dictionary, “Firm that (1) creates new promotional ideas, (2) designs print, radio, television, and Internet advertisements, (3) books advertisement space and time, (4) plans and conducts advertising campaigns, (5) commissions research and surveys, and (6) provides other such services that help a client in entering and succeeding in a chosen market. In general, advertising agencies are not deemed agents of the advertisers, because they act as principals for the services they buy on behalf of their clients.”
Wow, they can do all that? The second definition adds depth into the capabilities of a marketing agency and it made it clearer to me. The idea of interning and working in an agency was intriguing to me because not only were the many areas to channel my experience and knowledge into, but there were also numerous clients in various industries. I am looking forward to helping meet client’s marketing needs through all the services HRB offers throughout my internship.
However, I may not rattle off the entire definition to the next confused person I run into, but rather I may just say, “A marketing agency provides all the services a company needs to reach and connect to its target audience and meet its marketing needs.” Or, send them off to watch an episode of “Mad Men”.