BELGIUM Ad Agencies Unite For A VIRTUAL STRIKE – AD:60 Says Stop Crying!

Anyone who owns, runs or works for an agency knows just how expensive it can be to pitch, and the many hours spent creating, an amazing concept for a client that is not guaranteed to go with them.  Is this taking away from an agency’s current client work? Possibly, but we think it depends on the agency.  As more agencies begin to pop up, brands (clients) have more to choose from, so what do they do? They invite more competition to pitch for their business.  Why wouldn’t they? I know I would. Pitches cost the client money too, so if they are willing to spend more time and money reviewing work instead of building their brand, let them.  To most agencies though, the main issue is hours or dollars spent on a project they will most likely lose.  This is just how the advertising world works. With additional competition, agencies are forced to work harder to win business, which equates to more hours, which equals to more dollars.

Well, it seems a group of agencies in Belgium have decided to go on strike by devoting the home page of their websites to a week-long Virtual Strike against multiple agencies becoming involved in elaborate pitches.  Together, they have changed their homepage into a 24 page declaration against the demise of the Belgium Competition Charter. Agencies included in this ridiculous strike are Famous, JWT, Ogilvy, LBi, TBWA, Publicis, VVL, BBDO, LDV, Boondoggie, Air on Air, Saatchi, McCann Lowe and Kunstmann.

You can read the 24 page story by visiting http://www.famous.be/.

So, as you can see from the title of this article, AD:60 would like to to tell these agencies to stop crying!  It’s agencies like this that bill their client for every page of paper they print out or any cross agency meetings, even though these meetings should be happening anyways to benefit the client who is investing in these agencies in the first place.  I wonder how many of these agencies increased their revenue with existing clients in 2009,  because everyone knows it is easier to grow a business with existing clients than new ones.

We welcome the competition!  I know our talent can take on anyone in the industry.  If I were a client and I know you (the agency pitching) were losing $80,000 euros a pitch, then how could I trust you as my agency to effectively market my media budget?  Quickness, agility, efficiency and talent – this is how you beat the competition, not by setting rules.

What do you think?

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