American Association of Advertising Agencies
Encyclopedia
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
trade association
Trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
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Founded in 1917, their website states that 4A's membership "produces approximately 80 percent of the total advertising volume placed by agencies nationwide." The association issues annual awards for the best agencies, in different categories.