Frederick Swanston- Big agency experience with little agency attention.

As both a PR and an advertising major, sometimes it is hard for me to differentiate the two because so much of what we learn in each concentration is applicable to the other. Two weeks ago, I got to see how a PR agency runs and the types of things they do daily. Last week, I took the shadowing experience a step further and visited an advertising agency to see what they are all about.

The agency that I chose to visit was Frederick Swanston, located in Alpharetta, Georgia. I was assigned to shadow two account executives on the team, Amy and Robyn. I got to see the types of accounts they work on and how they do an ad campaign from initial contact with the client to the end result. They even showed me the computer programs and ways of storing files on a company-wide database that make it easy to keep all the information on an account organized and available to anyone in any department. I got to meet with various people in the office and talk to them for a few minutes to see what their particular jobs within the agency are. I met a few creative directors who handle the art and copywriting aspects of a campaign. I also got to meet the woman who handles most of the online web design advertising for various clients. I got to sit in on a conference call with her and Amy, as they spoke with one of their clients, Veriphone, about a new homepage design that had been developed. It was interesting to see the interaction between client and designer and how they walk through a printed out format of the site together in order to approve and/or make changes to the product.

My experience at the ad agency helped me to see how PR and ad agencies are similar in many ways, but very unique in others. They both work closely with various accounts and have similar job positions to maintain organization and structure in the office. There are obvious differences, however, in a paid advertising campaign and a PR campaign. I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to witness both sides of the spectrum and be able to compare my two concentrations from these experiences.