1.1 Definition and presentation

The term "advertising agency" refers to the type of company that deals with the planning and creation of advertising campaigns. There are several services in the field of communication that advertising agencies offer: advertising consulting, marketing consulting, digital marketing services, media management, campaign development and management, and brand and brand study. In common parlance, given the large number of services offered not only related to advertising, the term "communication agencies" is used.

Globally, the global advertising agency market is expected to grow from $317.63 billion in 2020 to $348.4 billion in 2021 and is estimated to reach $455.38 billion in the year 2025 with a CAGR of 6.9 percent.

As for the Italian market, this is characterized by a strong presence of micro and medium-sized enterprises present mostly in Northern and Central Italy. The year 2020, due to the pandemic, saw heavy losses within the sector (-11% in total value compared to the previous year). Despite this slump, a rapid post-pandemic recovery is expected due to the rise of advertising agencies specializing in the digital world. According to 2018 data released by the Chambers of Commerce in Italy there are 36 thousand communication companies with 180 thousand operators.

Future trends in the advertising agency market will be directed toward the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to make the process of data collection and analysis more streamlined and faster. In addition, many agencies are specializing in "digital advertising," which involves the use of social networks and other online platforms, increasingly setting aside traditional advertising mediums. Finally, a trend that communication agencies are leveraging is that they are increasingly offering not only advertising-related services, but also general brand management consulting.

1.2 The global advertising market is booming

Global advertising spending was more than $*** billion in ****, according to Zenith Forecasts estimates, up +**% from the **** global downturn caused by the crisis, which severely affected business confidence and available capital. The global advertising market grew at a CAGR of +*% during ****-****.

Forecasts indicate that this growth is expected to continue until ...

1.3 A growing domestic market

The turnover of advertising agencies in Italy has been growing since ****, and in **** it reached a value of *.** billion euros, only the advertising sector. If we take a broader field of research(***) it comes to a turnover of **.** billion euros for the same year.

Turnover of advertising agency companies Italy, ****-****, ...

2.1 Who are the main advertisers?

In the Nielsen **** report, data on the performance of the media industry in Italy was released.

The results of the report regarding the demand for advertisements are very positive: **** recorded +*.*% compared to ****, so very important data for the recovery of the business.

Regarding specifically the activities that grew the most, there ...

2.2 The new trend: advertising and influencers

2.3 The digital expectations of advertisers

Digital media is the fastest growing type of media in advertiser spending (***). Among the different digital marketing solutions, Content Marketing, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning are recognized as the most effective. In contrast, Paid search and display campaigns are the least popular among marketers.

Digital marketing techniques rated most ...

3.1 Production of advertising companies

Advertising production is a market that has been little affected by the Covid-** crisis: in fact, the value of production has increased sharply in recent years. In ****, production reached a value of **.* billion euros. The time when this market was most in crisis was in ****, during the housing crisis.

Production value ...

3.2 The companies in the industry

During the year ****, the advertising companies in Italy that had the most weight in the domestic market in terms of production were:

Source: ****

Among these companies, Dentsu International has the highest growth over the year ****, with a rate of +**%.

In contrast, over a *-year time frame, it is Serviceplan Group that ...

3.3 Breakdown of companies by number and employees

In Italy, according to Istat data, there were ***** companies registered under Ateco category **.**.* "advertising agency" in ****. In recent years, the number of advertising agency companies on the Italian territory has increased, showing positive signs for the market.

In contrast, the number of employees is quite stagnant, and even experienced a slight ...

4.1 Advertising agency: what kind of work?

Working in an advertising agency offers different types of jobs, which can then lead to different professional figures. The main ones are:

Account Manager: is a figure who manages clients in the post-sales phase, also manages the advertising budget and accounting of the agency.

Account Executive: is a figure who maintains ...

4.2 How to open an advertising agency

To practice in the world of advertising there are no specific educational requirements required by law, however, for a functioning and successful business it is advisable to have certain characteristics, for example:

Follow an appropriate educational background (***) Keep up-to-date (***) on digital media Know the industry well and have contacts to promote ...

4.3 The prices charged

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5.1 The legal regulation of advertising

As seen during the study, advertisements are broadcast on different platforms: television, radio, online, in digital form... For this reason, the rules governing their use and dissemination are different and specific to each platform. Nevertheless, there are rules to follow:

Penal Code rules to prohibit advertising abuses regarding images broadcasts, which ...

6.1 Segmentation of actors

Presented in the table below are the advertising agencies that had the highest return on investment in Italy. This indicator provides insight into the return on investment made.

Source: ****