How to choose an advertising agency in Egypt: 10 questions to ask before you sign
Egypt has hundreds of companies that call themselves advertising agencies. Some are design studios, some are media brokers, some are one-person freelancers with a logo. They all have a portfolio and they all promise results, which makes choosing one harder than it should be.
The right agency becomes part of your team: it understands your market, protects your budget and can deliver when a launch, a Ramadan campaign or a trade show is close. The wrong one costs you a season. These are the ten questions we would ask if we were choosing an advertising agency in Egypt ourselves.
1. Do they start with your business, or with ideas?
A good agency asks before it pitches: who buys from you, why they choose you over a competitor, what a successful year looks like and how you measure it. If the first meeting is a mood board, the work will look good and may not sell. Look for an agency that turns your objective into numbers it can be held to, such as reach, leads, cost per lead or footfall.
2. What do they actually do in-house?
Many agencies sell everything and outsource most of it. That adds a margin at every step and makes it hard to know who is responsible when something goes wrong. Ask directly which services their own team delivers: strategy, branding and design, video production, digital campaigns, exhibition stands, events. Ask to meet the people, not just the account manager.
3. Can they run the whole campaign, or only part of it?
In Egypt, a serious campaign rarely lives in one channel. A product launch might need a TV spot, billboards on the main roads, social and search ads, a launch event and a stand at the next exhibition. When each piece is run by a different supplier, the message drifts and nobody owns the result. (Our guide to advertising channels in Egypt explains what each one does best.) A full-service agency keeps one idea across every channel and one team accountable for all of it.
4. Have they worked in your sector, and at your scale?
Experience with multinationals teaches process, compliance and reporting. Experience with local brands teaches speed and how to make a limited budget work hard. The best partners have both. Ask for two or three case studies close to your situation, and ask what they would do differently today.
5. How do they plan and buy media?
Creative gets the attention, but media is usually where most of the money goes. Ask how they choose channels: do they plan against your target audience's ratings and reach, or just recommend the biggest names? For TV and radio, ask about reach and frequency targets, negotiation and post-buy reports. For digital, ask who owns the ad accounts and the data. The answer should be you.
6. What will you see every month?
Every step of a campaign should be tied to objectives and measurable KPIs. Ask for a sample report. A useful one shows what was spent, what it delivered against the targets you agreed, and what will change next month. A report full of impressions and likes with no link to leads or sales is a warning sign.
7. Who will work on your account day to day?
Agencies often pitch with their most senior people and hand the account to someone else. Ask who your daily contact will be, who approves the creative and who you call when something goes wrong on a Friday night before a launch. In Egypt, a WhatsApp group with the right people in it is often worth more than any process document.
8. How do they handle tight deadlines and changes?
Briefs change. Exhibition dates get confirmed late. Ramadan always arrives sooner than planned. Ask how the agency handles that. The answer you want is not a fixed timeline on a slide. It is a team that adapts the plan to the time available, takes responsibility for every deadline and hits the ground running from the first call.
9. Can they prove their work is recognised?
Awards and independent rankings are not everything, but they show that someone outside the agency checked the work. Look for recognition that is based on verified client work rather than paid listings. Doers, for example, won two TechBehemoths Awards in Egypt in 2022, one for Advertising and one for Branding. Certifications such as Google Partner or HubSpot partnership also show that the team keeps its skills up to date.
10. Will they still fit when you grow into new markets?
Many Egyptian companies expand to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. An agency with a team on the ground there can carry your brand into the new market without starting again with a new supplier. Ask whether they have worked in the Kingdom, and in which cities.
A short checklist for your agency shortlist
- They asked about your business and your targets before showing ideas
- Their own team delivers the core services you need
- They can run TV, outdoor, digital, events and exhibitions under one plan
- Case studies close to your sector and budget
- A clear media planning method and a sample monthly report
- You own your ad accounts and data
- You have met the people who will run your account
- Independent recognition based on verified work
- Experience in the markets you plan to enter next
Looking for an advertising agency in Egypt?
Doers is a full-service, award-winning advertising agency in Egypt, headquartered in Cairo with a team in Jeddah. Our own team covers strategy, branding, event management, booth production, digital marketing, media production, TV, radio and outdoor advertising, for multinationals, UN agencies and ambitious local brands. Planning for Saudi Arabia? See our advertising agency in Jeddah. Tell us about your brand and your next campaign, and we'll reply within one working day.
