# What types of agency are there?

**Short answer.** Roughly six families: creative, media, digital, PR and communication, activation and events, and the specialists. The labels are blurring, so buy on what an agency actually does, not on what it calls itself.

The classification agencies use for themselves belongs to an earlier era. It survives in their names and in the trade press, but in practice almost every agency does part of its neighbours' work. So use the families as a map, not as a menu.

## The six families

**Creative agencies** invent and make the message: the idea, the campaign, the brand story, its execution.

**Media agencies** buy and plan the places that message appears, and measure what it returns. They earn their living differently, which makes them structurally a different kind of partner.

**Digital agencies** build and run: websites, apps, e-commerce, marketing automation, data. The most fragmented part of the market, because "digital" today covers a dozen genuine specialisms.

**PR and communication agencies** work with newsrooms, spokespeople, public opinion and internal communication. Their value sits in relationships and timing, not in production.

**Activation and event agencies** put something into the physical world: trade fairs, promotions, retail, events, sampling.

**The specialists**, the fastest growing group: one craft, very deep. Moving image, SEO, packaging, employer branding, sector agencies for pharma or B2B.

## Why the labels are blurring

Creative agencies have done their own digital production for years, digital agencies do strategy, media agencies make content. Buying on the label often means buying a service the agency added to its list rather than something it is genuinely good at.

## The question that does work

Not "what kind of agency are you" but "which work from my list do you do in house, with whom, and what do you outsource". The second half of that answer is the interesting one: every agency works with subcontractors, and you are entitled to know who touches your work.

IKAg's factsheets list the stated services per agency, and you can [browse by expertise](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/expertises) instead of by label.

See also: [creative agency or media agency](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/creatief-bureau-of-mediabureau) and [one agency or several](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/een-bureau-of-meerdere).

## Related questions

- [What is the difference between a creative agency and a media agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/creatief-bureau-of-mediabureau): The creative agency invents and makes the message, the media agency buys the places it appears. They earn differently and measure differently, which is exactly why the two rarely sit under one roof.
- [Network agency or independent agency: what is the difference?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/netwerkbureau-of-onafhankelijk): A network agency hangs off an international holding and brings scale, process and international coverage; an independent decides for itself and has its owners in the building. Look at who signs, not at what is on the door.
- [Which agency fits my sector?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/welk-bureau-past-bij-mijn-sector): Sector experience helps with regulation and hurts distinctiveness: an agency serving five players in your market knows the rules and has already applied them five times. Search by sector in the factsheets.

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IKAg is the business consultant for marketing and agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Market figures come from the Agency Barometer, calculated on the annual accounts agencies filed with the National Bank themselves. Figures on pitches and satisfaction come from IKAg-guided processes, and are always presented as such.

- All questions: https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq
- Last updated: 2026-08-19