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Advertising Agency Website Design

Delivered October 22, 2019. Contributor: Benjamin H.

Goals

To obtain perspectives on compelling advertising agency website design and user experience, specifically for the following audiences: i) chief marketing officers, marketing teams, or search consultants ii) all prospective employees, and iii) prospective creative talent.

Early Findings

  • According to an analysis done by Ben Davis and Lizzy Hillier on top ad agency websites, Made by Many was identified as one of the outstanding websites that had a clean-cut design with "rounded abstract shapes (some of which are subtly animated)".
  • Also, the site's conversational copy makes Made by Many look warm and friendly. Another unique feature of this agency's website is its newsletter sign-up option.
  • In attracting prospective talent, Made by Many uses a "social-style notification in the header menu" to alert its website visitors at the job vacancies section.
  • Stink Studios has a website that exudes a similar "kind of cool you get from those infrequently-published fashion magazines you see in the newsagents with titles such as ‘The Gentlewoman’ or ‘sum zine’". This website looks nice even when all images have not fully loaded.
  • Be Heard is another exemplary ad agency website that exudes confidence. The agency does this by using harsh lines and images that are tightly packed on its website.
  • Be Heard's homepage is full of personality. This homepage contains handwriting and portraits of individual employees who showcase their latest projects.

Proposed next steps:

You need to be the project owner to select a next step.
Our background search has identified some tactics used by ad agencies on their websites in order to attract prospective clients and employees. We recommend further research to provide information about advertising agency website designs and/or user experience for the audiences listed below. 1) Chief marketing officers, marketing teams, or search consultants who are looking to hire an ad agency. Here, we would focus on providing information related to the following: o What type of information is helpful to have on an ad agency website? o What are the key sections/pages to include on an ad agency website? o What would be most important to put on the front page of a website? o What draws them in? o What sets an agency apart? o What types of media do they like to see on a website (videos, stills, etc.) o What is the best way for an agency to highlight awards or positive press on a website? o How should an agency highlight their work? o What information is important to highlight in case studies of past work? o What are the most compelling ad agency websites they have come across? [9 research hours] 2) Prospective employees (all prospective talent). Here we would provide the following information:  What do agency prospective employees look for on a website?  What is most important to highlight?  How do they evaluate if a particular agency is a place they would like to work?  What types of benefits are important to highlight on a website?  How do they typically find jobs or agencies that they would like to work for? (Industry publications, industry events, job search websites, google searches, etc.) [3 research hours] 3) Prospective creative talent:  What do creative talent prospects look for when visiting an ad agency website?  What types of work are most important to highlight?  How do they know if an agency might be the right fit for their creative style? [3 research hours] {NB Kindly let us know if you are interested in ALL or SOME of the research options provided here}
Alternatively, we recommend further research to provide 2-3 best practices for designing an ad agency website in order to attract clients and employees. We would provide at least one best practice focused on attracting clients and at least one best practice for prospective employees.