Advertising Agencies in Chicago · 3 Nov 2026 · 10 min read · By Amit Kumar Sharma

Advertising agencies in Chicago: a verified list and how to choose one

Ten Chicago ad agencies verified on their own websites, the difference between creative, media and performance shops, and how to brief and compare them.

Key takeaways

Decide whether you need a creative, media, performance or full-service agency before you build a shortlist.
Chicago combines Publicis-scale media agencies with long-standing independents like C-K, SCC and Burrell.
Send every agency the same brief with your goal, audience and budget split so proposals are comparable.
Keep agency fees separate from media spend and make sure all ad accounts are in your name.

If you're searching for advertising agencies in Chicago, you're looking at one of the deepest agency markets in the US. Global holding-company shops, century-old independents and specialist media and performance teams all sit within a few blocks of the Loop and the West Loop. That depth is useful, but it also makes shortlisting hard, because "advertising agency" covers very different businesses.

This guide gives you a verified starting list, explains what each type of agency actually does, and shows you how to brief and compare them.

Disclosure: this list was compiled by Appryze, a performance marketing team based in New Delhi. Appryze is not included or ranked in it. Agencies are listed alphabetically, not by quality. We checked each agency's name, Chicago address and services on its own website in November 2026; agencies change, so confirm details directly before you reach out.

Creative, media or performance: which Chicago ad agency do you need?

Most failed agency searches start with the wrong category. Before you look at names, decide which job you're hiring for.

Agency type	What they deliver	Hire one when	Usually not the right fit for
Creative agency	Brand platform, campaign idea, TV/video, OOH and social creative	Your brand needs a new story, or a launch needs a big idea	Day-to-day bid management and channel optimization
Media agency	Planning, buying and negotiating across TV, audio, digital, OOH, retail media	You spend across many channels and need reach, rates and measurement	Small budgets concentrated on one or two digital platforms
Performance agency	Search, social, programmatic and commerce campaigns tied to conversions	Your goal is leads, sales, installs or sign-ups at a target cost	Brand repositioning or large creative productions
Full-service independent	Creative and media from one team, often with PR and social	You want one accountable partner and senior attention	Global multi-market rollouts that need a network

Many brands end up with two partners: a creative agency for the idea and a media or performance team for distribution. That works well if you define who owns what, which we cover in the briefing section below.

Advertising agencies in Chicago (alphabetical)

These ten cover the main types above: holding-company creative and media agencies, established independents, and a specialist performance shop. It is a starting list, not an exhaustive directory of Chicago ad agencies.

BarkleyOKRP

Where: Chicago office at 328 S Jefferson St (West Loop); headquarters in Kansas City, with further offices in Denver and New York.

Positions itself as an independent advertising agency. Chicago is one of four offices, so ask which team and which office would actually run your account.

Core services: Advertising and brand building; check its site for the current capability list. Website: barkleyokrp.com

Burrell

Where: 303 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 2910, Chicago, with a second office in Culver City, California.

Calls itself "The Subcultural Agency" and describes itself as the largest Black-owned, full-service agency. A natural shortlist candidate when reaching Black and multicultural audiences authentically is central to the brief.

Core services: Strategy, creative, social, media, content studio, production, analytics, experiential and PR. Website: www.burrell.com

Cramer-Krasselt (C-K)

Where: 225 N Michigan Avenue, Chicago.

Describes itself as one of the nation's oldest and largest independent advertising agencies, with the line "Making friends since 1898". A full-service independent that can hold creative and media under one roof.

Core services: Creative, media, social, insights and strategy, analytics, performance marketing, experience design, AI, shopper and PR. Website: c-k.com

Havas Chicago

Where: 24 E Washington St, in the Loop.

Part of the Havas network. It sells an integrated "Havas Village" model, building one team under one P&L that can scale services up or down for each client.

Core services: Analytics, strategy, creative, media, digital, CRM, PR, experiential and production. Website: chi.havas.com

Leo (Leo Burnett)

Where: Leo Chicago is listed among the network's US offices on its site.

Now branded simply as "Leo", it describes itself as the creative constellation of Publicis Groupe. A holding-company creative agency built for large, brand-led campaigns rather than small test budgets.

Core services: Brand creative and campaign development within the Publicis network. Website: leoburnett.com

Performics

Where: Chicago is listed among its North American offices, alongside Miami and New York.

Calls itself "the performance marketing agency". This is the pure performance option on the list: less about the big idea, more about buying intent and measuring outcomes.

Core services: Search (SEM and SEO), social, programmatic and commerce/retail media. Website: www.performics.com/about-us

Schafer Condon Carter (SCC)

Where: 176 N Racine Ave, Suite 300, Chicago (West Loop).

An independent, full-service creative and media agency. A mid-sized option for brands that want senior attention and creative plus media from one team.

Core services: Brand and business strategy, creative, design, video production and media. Website: schafercondoncarter.com

Spark Foundry

Where: 35 West Wacker Drive, Chicago.

A Publicis Groupe media agency. It runs planning and buying across paid, earned, shared and owned channels, backed by a data and analytics practice.

Core services: Media strategy and planning; investment across video, audio, search, social, commerce and retail media, programmatic, out-of-home and local; data science and analytics. Website: www.sparkfoundryww.com

Starcom

Where: 35 W. Wacker Drive, Chicago.

Describes itself as a global communications planning and media leader, part of Publicis Media within Publicis Groupe, with a history it says goes back over 80 years.

Core services: Communications planning, media, business analytics, digital, content and sports partnerships. Website: www.starcomww.com

Two by Four

Where: Headquartered at 10 N. Dearborn, Suite 1000, Chicago, with offices in San Francisco and Nashville.

Describes itself as a digital design and advertising agency. A good fit for brand strategy, naming and identity work that then rolls into campaigns.

Core services: Brand strategy and architecture, messaging, naming, research, design, production and media. Website: www.twoxfour.com

What makes the Chicago agency market different

A few traits of the local market are worth knowing before you start calling.

Holding-company scale sits next door to independents. Publicis Groupe runs several of its biggest US agencies from Chicago; Starcom and Spark Foundry both list 35 W. Wacker Drive as their Chicago address. At the same time, independents such as C-K, SCC and Burrell are headquartered here, so you can compare network resources and independent attention in the same week.
Midwest brands and consumer categories. Chicago agencies tend to have deep experience with packaged goods, food and restaurants, retail, insurance, healthcare and B2B manufacturing, because many of those brands are based in the region.
Multicultural expertise is a real specialty. Agencies like Burrell built their positioning around specific audiences. If that matters to your brand, treat it as a core requirement rather than an add-on.
Central time helps national campaigns. A Chicago team is one hour from New York and two from Los Angeles, which makes live coordination across both coasts easier.

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How to choose an advertising agency in Chicago

Use this checklist to move from a long list of Chicago ad agencies to a shortlist of two or three.

Match the agency type to the problem. If you need sales at a target cost, start with performance-led teams. If your brand is unclear, start with creative.
Check size against your budget. Ask what their smallest active client spends and how many accounts each team member handles. A small account at a very large agency often gets junior attention.
Meet the actual team. Ask who will run your account day to day, and get that commitment in the contract, not just the pitch.
Ask for relevant work you can verify. Live campaigns, case studies with specific objectives, and references you can call, ideally in your category or business model.
Test their measurement thinking. How will they know if a campaign worked? Look for a clear answer that covers attribution, incrementality and what they'll report each week.
Confirm account ownership. Ad accounts, analytics properties, creative files and media data should belong to you, with the agency added as a user.
Clarify conflicts. Large agencies may already work for a competitor. Ask early.

For a deeper look at evaluating the search side specifically, see our guide to choosing a Google Ads agency.

How to brief a Chicago ad agency

A good brief gets you comparable proposals. A vague one gets you three different guesses. Include:

The business goal in numbers you already track: revenue, leads, sign-ups, store visits or installs.
Who you're trying to reach and what you know about them, including your best customers today.
Budget split into agency fees, production and working media. Agencies can't plan without it.
Channels already running and what you've learned from them, including what failed.
Roles: if you'll have separate creative and media partners, say which one owns strategy, reporting and the final call on spend.
Timeline and decision process: who decides, by when, and what a successful first 90 days looks like.

Ask each agency to respond to the same brief and to show how they would measure the first campaign. That makes the comparison fair.

How Chicago advertising companies price their work

Fees vary widely with agency size, scope and spend, so focus first on the structure.

Model	How it works	Watch out for
Monthly retainer	A fixed fee for an agreed scope of ongoing work	Vague scope; agree deliverables and hours in writing
Project fee	A fixed price for a campaign, rebrand or production	Change requests and rounds of revisions billed extra
Percentage of media spend	A fee tied to the budget the agency manages	Incentive to raise spend; consider caps or a flat fee
Hourly or blended rate	Billing against time logged by role	Hours creeping without matching output
Performance-linked	A base fee plus a bonus for hitting agreed KPIs	KPIs the agency can game, or that ignore lead quality

Whatever the model, keep agency fees separate from working media, and pay platforms such as Google and Meta directly from your own accounts where possible.

Red flags when comparing marketing agencies in Chicago

A guaranteed result (a cost per lead, a ranking, a number of sales) before they've seen your data.
Ad accounts or analytics created under the agency's ownership instead of yours.
Reporting that only shows impressions and clicks, never cost per result or revenue.
A senior pitch team that disappears after the contract is signed.
Long lock-in terms with no performance review point.
Reluctance to share raw platform data or to let you speak with current clients.

Comparing options beyond Chicago? Our lists of advertising agencies in New York and digital marketing agencies in the USA use the same approach. Browse the full digital marketing section for more.

Where Appryze fits

Appryze isn't a Chicago agency and doesn't do brand creative or PR. We're a performance marketing team in New Delhi that runs Google Ads, Meta, Amazon and app campaigns for US brands, with call times that overlap US business hours. A common setup is a local creative agency for the idea and a specialist team like ours for paid acquisition. You own every ad account, and you get weekly written updates. See our performance marketing services or, for app growth, our app marketing page.

Frequently asked questions

What are the biggest advertising agencies in Chicago?

Chicago hosts large holding-company agencies such as Leo, Starcom and Spark Foundry, which are part of Publicis Groupe, as well as Havas Chicago. Alongside them are long-established independents like Cramer-Krasselt, Schafer Condon Carter and Burrell. Size alone shouldn't decide your choice: match the agency's type and typical client budget to your own goals and spend.

How much does an advertising agency in Chicago cost?

It depends on scope, agency size and how much media you run. Common structures are a monthly retainer, a fixed project fee, a percentage of media spend, hourly billing or a base fee with a performance bonus. Ask every agency to quote against the same brief, and keep their fees separate from the media budget you pay to platforms.

What is the difference between a creative agency and a media agency?

A creative agency develops the brand idea and the ads themselves: concepts, scripts, video, design and copy. A media agency decides where those ads run, how much to spend in each channel, negotiates rates and measures delivery. Some full-service agencies do both. Performance agencies focus on digital channels optimized toward conversions such as leads or sales.

Should I hire a local Chicago agency or a remote one?

Hire local when in-person workshops, production shoots or regional market knowledge really matter. For digital performance work such as Google Ads, Meta or app campaigns, a remote team can work well if it overlaps your business hours, gives you full account ownership and reports clearly every week. Many brands combine a local creative partner with a specialist remote performance team.

How do I choose the right ad agency in Chicago?

Start by defining the problem: brand, reach or conversions. Shortlist agencies of the matching type and size, send them the same written brief, and meet the people who would actually run your account. Check verifiable work in your category, ask how they would measure success, confirm you own all accounts and data, and avoid anyone guaranteeing results upfront.