What is a Marketing Agency? PT. 1

For the many years one is involved in marketing, at some point, some person is going to bring up Mad Men. It might be in casual conversation, a comparison to Don Draper, but this is mere confusion. Explaining what we do can be arduous. As no two marketing agencies are created equal, but let's face facts it's not all Mad Men and selling honey to a bee.

So what is a marketing agency?

Whether an agency is team or just single person, they have valuable inside knowledge of the business. They sit in on the internal and external meetings, know the company direction, mission, vendors and spend their days focused on the newest industry knowledge. These people even get the watercooler talk that can help evolve daily techniques into industry standards.

There's ethical marketing involved, there's staying true to core beliefs, but there's also a great deal of creativity at Off The Vine.

The reason you see so many marketing agencies around a town like ours, Boise, ID, is the fact that many tackle different kinds of work. For instance, you'll see a strictly digital firm or one that focuses on solely physical media. They might exist in different realms in terms of where they work and how, but at the end of the day they still call the Treasure Valley home. The market itself simply needs a variety of work done, and that's because consumers tend to make their shopping decision, seven times out of ten, before even entering a store.

1. Consumers educated themselves online and through social ties.

2. TV ads persuade buyers and win over their trust

3. Radio and other media inform buyers about their market choices

In the Treasure Valley, you have universities, breweries, brands of all kinds, and they need the same things. Most often it's visibility. Great brands shouldn't have any trouble getting the product to the right people, but standing out form the crowd can require a slough of different things. Digital marketing could come into play, sure. Some companies are totally wrecked when the next Google update comes around. Suddenly Google is providing the same service they once were famous for.

Thus, a marketing agency will go out of their way to help a brand tell it's stories. To define a brand and set them aside from the competition is just the beginning.

In this series we're going to discuss all things that a marketing agency like Off The Vine is, and what makes off the vine different from the folks down the road. Stayed tuned!