Box 1.

: Documents sought from advertising agencies

• Contact reports between client and agency
• Minutes of meetings between the advertising agency (usually represented by a member of the client service team—for example, an account executive or an account director) and the advertiser
• Client brief
• Documents prepared by the advertiser to tell the agency about a proposed campaign
• Creative brief
• Details of the agency's response to the client brief, used to guide the creative team internally
• Media brief
• Used to guide the purchasing of media space and time, including channel selection and targeting strategy
• Media schedule
• Used to monitor implications of the media strategy; outlines when and where the advertising has been placed
• Advertising budgets
• Details of advertising budgets over time and across media
• Market research reports
• All modern advertising is subjected to rigorous consumer research throughout its development and use—for example, it guides the development of pretest campaigns before transmission and evaluates effectiveness afterwards. Documents include research reports, proposals, and presentations
• Links to other forms of communication
• Mass media advertising is only a part of the picture; careful links are drawn with other forms of communication such as point of sale, sales promotions, pack design, direct mail, loyalty schemes, and merchandise, to produce a synergistic effect
• Links to the marketing strategy
• Similarly, communications of all sorts have to fit with the rest of the marketing strategy, especially product formulation, pricing, and distribution