Why don't ad agencies advertise? (Part III)

I know this to be true because ad agencies don't advertise. Of course they want you to - but they most certainly don't do so themselves.

When last did you see the ATL TVC for your favourite ad agency? Never? Because I can hear the howls already, the "of course we don't advertise on TV because we target our advertising at potential clients".

I went to look at the industry publications presumably read by clients shopping for an agency.

Here is just a single example: the June 2012 issue of AdVantage has 20 full-page ads in a 72-page book, including an inside front cover double-page spread; an inside back cover (IBC) ad and an outside back cover (OBC) ad.

Delicious irony

How many of them were from ad agencies? Only one! And (oh delicious irony) it was a "blackmail" ad placed by TBWA Cape Town to support an advertising feature on the city. I thought it was a crap ad - but that's just my opinion.

All the other ads in that edition of AdVantage were ads from media owners - advertising to the ad industry.

Yet, the very same edition of AdVantage was crammed to the gunnels - overflowing, with editorial - PR for the ad industry about every issue you could possibly think of.

Why would you waste your money on something that even those who make their living from don't believe in?

For more:

• Do PR practitioners have more power than ad agencies? (Part I)
  
• Why PR practitioners may have more power than ad agencies (Part II)