Anyone who has gone on the hunt for an advertising agency knows this scenario: You hear a dynamic pitch from some hip, creative men and women who impress you with their retro-chic glasses and bold ideas about how they will sell your company’s widgets.

But once the agency starts billing you for work, the “A” team gets dumped for the interns who are still learning the ropes.

One of the things you want to avoid when selecting an ad agency is falling for the old “bait-and-switch,” experts say. Agencies sometimes save the most experienced staffers to work on their biggest, most prestigious accounts and stick you with their lower ranks. So when you hear a pitch that sounds impressive, make sure that the team that is trying to sell you is also the same team who will ultimately create that TV ad.

“You want to get a sense of the people with whom you’ll be working with,” said Jerry Gibbons, a principal with A-Team Advertising Advisors LLC in San Francisco.

That is just one of the tips that advertising experts recommend before spending thousands of dollars on a marketing firm.

When it comes to choosing a firm, Dayton has plenty of advertising agencies with a lot of different services, said Alex Loehrer, partner and vice president of client services for Hafenbrack Marketing, a Dayton advertising, marketing and public relations firm. For example, the city has specialty boutique agencies focused on certain services such as graphic design and branding and interactive Web design and research, as well as comprehensive agencies with all services provided under an account manager, such as Hafenbrack.

“It’s probably knowing which one is the right fit for your company and unique situation,” Loehrer said.

He said sources to look for the right advertising agency to partner with include:

• The Greater Dayton Advertising Association, which has access to resources for marketing, communication and advertising;

• other businesses who can refer agencies;

• agency Web sites that have case studies, for example, which offers initial exposure to the agency; and

• meeting with agencies to talk about their approach and solutions for similar marketing situations.

Other tips include defining your marketing needs, creating a short list of agencies that could meet your needs and assigning sample projects to the these prospects. And once you have identified the advertising firm, make sure you monitor their performance to make sure they are meeting expectations.

Put them to the test

When the Ratner Cos. wanted an ad agency to promote its Hair Cuttery chain of salons, the Vienna, Va., company started with a list of 20 to 25 agencies.

They whittled the list down to five, Ratner Marketing Director Kerry Storey said. They ultimately selected Baltimore’s TBC, an agency whose clients include MinuteClinic and Smart Balance, which sells heart-healthy margarine, popcorn and other foods.

Before narrowing the list, Storey said the company reviewed Web sites and had regular conference calls to determine how the agencies fit their needs. They also gave the prospective agencies a sample, back-to-school hair cutting promotion to design.

When Ratner executives visited the agency, the advertising firm had rented school buses as part of an assignment to create a back-to-school campaign. Bathrooms were outfitted with Redken hair products, a brand Hair Cuttery uses in its salons. That sealed the deal. That showed Ratner executives that TBC paid attention to detail and was willing to go the extra mile, Storey said.

Know the team

You should also make sure that an agency’s culture is a good fit. If you’re a pin-striped, buttoned-down firm, you might not be comfortable with an agency whose employees wear jeans and sneakers. You also have to click with the agency.

“Chemistry is inordinately important,” said Thomas Finneran, executive vice president of agency management services for the American Association of Advertising Agencies.

Defining your needs

Companies need to ask themselves a host of questions before selecting an ad agency.

Do you want a local agency or are you willing to hop on a plane to pay them a visit? What is your budget? Who is your target audience? Do you want a small, boutique shop or a large agency with offices in every corner of the globe? Do you need an agency that has multimedia capabilities?

You don’t want to be the agency’s largest or smallest client. If you are the smallest, they will not pay attention to you, Gibbons said. If you are the largest, they may be too intimidated to freely speak their mind.

One of the misconceptions companies have is that they need to select an agency that understands its industry, Gibbons said. It’s not important that the agency knows about, say, the enterprise software industry. What is important is that they have experience selling to the audience you are trying to reach, whether that’s men between the ages of 18 and 34 or housewives.

Planning for success.

Once an agency is chosen, a key to success is to develop a good relationship with the people you’re working with, said Donna Childs, president of Greater Dayton Advertising Association and Donna Childs Consultants.

The worst case scenario: “That your expectations were not real, that you didn’t clearly communicate what was needed or the agency misrepresented what they could do or the personalities clash,” Childs said.

Monitor the agency’s work and provide feedback on a regular basis, Finneran said. If any issues come up, mention them right away.

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