A Full Service Advertising agency is an agency that's involved in all types/forms of advertising, this is as opposed to agencies that only deal with specific forms of advertising, like Media advertising, which specialise in buying TV and radio space etc.

  If it’s the Client Manager who has overall control of individual Clients and their accounts, it’s the job of the Agency Manager to oversee the day to day running of the agency, dealing with any problems from members of staff, and generally making sure that the agency operates efficiently.

  The rest of an agency is made up of individuals (or groups, depending on the size of the company) who are each employed to carry out definite tasks. Although it can be seen that everyone has an individual role to play in the structure of an agency, it is good teamwork and having the right chemistry between members of staff that ensures that things run in the way that they should.

  Some roles in an agency are seen as more crucial than others. For instance the job of the New Business Director is an important role in the workings of any advertising agency. It’s the New Business Directors job to bring in new clients to the company, poaching clients from other agencies is seen as a way of trying to get new business. Other ways include searching through the trade press for potential clients. New Business Directors need to be skilled in the art of persuasion.

  Once an account has been secured it is the Account Handlers (or Planners as they may be known) who liase with the client on behalf of the agency. He will keep the client informed of every aspect of the campaign. He is the client’s port of call within the agency. This part of their job is sometimes described as keeping the client sweet.

  Another important role within an agency that ensures everything happens as it’s supposed to be is that of Traffic. It’s the job of Traffic to oversee that everything is on time. They deal with time limits that are put on other departments, deadlines that need to be met. Basically supervising the different stages of production.

  The creative department of an agency will usually consist of an Art Director and a Copywriter, who will work together as a team. The Art Director, (or Directors, again depending on the size of the company) is responsible for creating the ideas for Artists, Photographers and Graphic Designers. It is usually the Creative Department that will get most of the credit for the success of a campaign, as this is the most obvious, and most noticeable side of an agency. It is also through an agencies creative work that they are known and remembered, usually by previous eye catching campaigns.

  Although the Creative side of an Advertising Agency are seen to get a lot of credit for the agencies success, those that do this job are known to work a lot of hours, and work weekends, most of which might goes unpaid. This is due to the nature of having to create various different approaches at any one time, one of which may only be used in any possible advertising campaign.

  Although it is the New Business Directors job to get new clients, it is known that one third of all new business an agency gets is through the Advertising Agency Register, (A.A.R.). The Advertising Agency Register is as the name implies, a register of Advertising Agencies that clients will use when deciding what agency to go with. This is done by agencies compiling a presentation of their services in the form of a show reel, a video or with today’s new technology, maybe a web page or web site. This presentation will last for 10 minutes and will give the client a brief outline of what they can offer. Clients will then look at the different agencies to see which one will best suit their need. The Advertising Agency Register charges both the client and the agency for using this service. The main benefit of this for a client is that it is impartial and completely confidential.