Photographers, and to a lesser extent illustrators, base their fees in part on the use to which you intend to put their work. Advertising in big-circulation magazines commands a higher rate than the same job executed for a small-circulation trade magazine; multiple uses (for example, a product photo) may earn a higher fee than work that will appear only once. Though this system may sound illogical, photographers do feel that pricing should partly reflect usage, so you need to establish clearly at the beginning of any assignment what rights you expect to purchase. A useful guide to rates and terms for photographers is contained in The ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography, rev. ed. 1981 ($19, from American Society of Magazine Photographers, 205 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10016). For illustrators, similar guidelines are found in The Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, 4th edition ($13.80 prepaid, from The Graphic Artists' Guild, 30 E. 20th St., New York, NY 10003).
* MEDIA-BUYING SERVICES. There's no great trick to qualifying as an "in-house" ad agency that can earn the standard 15% discount that most magazines, newspapers, radio, and television stations offer to independent ad agencies. You'll need to provide professionally produced materials, pay your bills on time, and perhaps create some stationery and insertion orders with your in-house agency name. It's that simple.
Operating an in-house agency is a reasonable choice, especially when you or your company managers have a clear idea of the publications in which you should spend your advertising dollars. But if your media decisions begin to be more complex, or if a lot of your money is going to be spent on consumer-oriented media, you may want to add another a la carte service -- an independent media-buying firm.
Media-buying services offer a lot of specialized skills in building schedules, negotiating rates, and evaluating the effectiveness of various media. Full-service ad agencies, of course, also offer media-buying services, but only the larger agencies are likely to buy as much media research or have the kind of staff experts that you can expect from a specialized buying firm.
The cost? You may have to pay a percentage fee (15% is common) or a negotiated flat rate, depending on the difficulty of the schedule you and the media-buying firm come up with. But an independent media buyer should be able to demonstrate how this investment will pay off in a more sharply focused, efficient use of what is usually the largest part of any advertising budget.
* MARKET RESEARCH. Another service that you can buy independently of a full-service ad agency is market research. It's hard to create advertising with real impact if you don't know why your customers buy your product or services (or even who those customers are). Market research firms are specialists in getting feedback from the people your advertising is designed to reach and influence, and can tell you pretty accurately whether all that hard-earned cash in your ad budget is doing the job.
One of the most common tools that market research firms use is the focus group, a panel of 6 to 12 people who are representative of the market you need to reach. The group will be led by a trained, neutral leader who can keep the discussion on track without giving away the sponsor of the session.Most focus group facilities also offer two-way mirrors, so you can observe the proceedings secretly. The total fee for arranging such a session is about $1,200.
Market research firms can also produce mail surveys, conduct telephone surveys ($15 to $20 per interview), or set up product demonstration interviews ($20 to $25 per demonstration). Once the data is collected, moreover, they'll help you interpret the results.
* PUBLIC RELATIONS. All kinds of promotional techniques come under the heading of "public relations," and many can be handled with the help of the a la carte services of photographers, copywriters, and occasionally art directors. If you're looking for a more elaborate campaign, though, you may want to draw on the services of an independent public relations consultant. For either an hourly fee or a flat charge per project, a public relations specialist can handle such assignments as a new product launch, a special event, or a broad effort to increase your company's visibility. Be realistic about your expectations (and the promises a publicist makes): You may pay for sending out news releases and for contacting editors, but you have no guarantees that editors will find the material worth publishing.
If you'd rather handle the work of sending out news releases yourself, your best bet is to get a copy of the current issue of Bacon's Publicity Checker, a mammoth two-volume summary of business, trade, consumer, and farm magazines, plus all daily and weekly newspapers. Bacon's ($112.80 prepaid, from Bacon's Publicity Checker, 14 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604) gives you the names of editors to contact, and neatly organizes the types of publicity material each periodical accepts. Their computerized mailing service is also available to provide lists of editors by industry or business.
* PRODUCTION HOUSES. Television and radio commercials, as well as most audiovisual shows, are big budget items that small companies rarely tackle on their own. A slick TV commercial, for example, can easily cost upwards of $50,000 to produce, before a single dollar is spent on buying air time. Still, it's possible to deal directly with various kinds of production houses that can give you help on scripting, photography, sound recording, graphics, and even voice talent -- at a modest price. But if you're really looking for economy in production, your best bet is often to ask for help from local radio or TV stations. Especially if you're planning to buy air time from the station, they can offer some of the best a la carte bargains around.
