‘Clients treating agencies like prostitutes’
Clients are treating agencies “like prostitutes” in pitches by using their ideas without paying them, a senior creative said at an conference yesterday.
Kestrel Lee, Asia Pacific executive creative director of Zeno Group, told delegates at the Worldwide Partners Asia Pacific meeting in Hanoi that agencies should “walk away” from pitches, and stop giving away their intellectual property.
“If you suspect that a client is unscrupulous, you should walk away – otherwise you’re asking to be screwed,” he said.
“Most clients don’t care about which agency brand is pitching, since ad people move from agency to agency all the time – which is partly why they treat agencies like prostitutes.”
Lee said that his agency rarely pitches. He talks at conferences and creates good work, so that “clients come to me,” he said.
“My job is to chase fame and business will come organically. There are so many agencies looking for big kills who spend an enormous amount on pitching and don’t get anything out of it.”
“I’d rather go to a challenger brand, who’s prepared to tie my strategy to their business performance,” he said.
Calvin Soh, the former chief creative officer and vice chairman of Publicis Asia Pacific, said that there needs to be an industry-wide push to change the pitch process.
Soh was part of a Publicis team that pitched for the Singapore Airlines account in 2008. The pitch lasted nine months and cost the agency $250,000. The account went to TBWA.
“How much money are we prepared to waste to land a client?” he said. “Do doctors allow patients to have free consultations, then the patient goes off to the pharmacy to get the drugs they need?”
A pitch fee has been proposed in Singapore, but while large agencies have agreed to pay it, small agencies have said they will pitch for free, scuppering the pitch fee model, Calvin Soh said.
“We need to take a long, hard look at ourselves, and work out a better way define a value for our ideas,” Soh said.
Hmmm. Interesting but I don’t think Mr Lee quite grasps the concept of what “prostitute” means. They get PAID for getting “screwed” unlike what he describes.
ReplyIt’s quite ironic to complain about spending a quarter mil to land an account that can generate enough biz to keep dozens of staff in employ but happily sign off twice that sum in award entry fees, man hours and production to make a few creatives famous for a weekend in the south of France.
ReplyWhat let’s talk about “screwing” here for a moment.
The clients know many creatives don’t give a rat’s ass about their business.
The clients know many creatives dwell on awards and where they rank on Campaign Asia’s most awarded creative list.
The clients know they’re being charged for they’re time jerking off at themselves.
The clients know they’re being scammed (or “screwed”)
The clients know that many agencies come up with all sorts of specialty divisions with colorful names.
The clients know that this is a result of pretending to have a grasp of something they have absolutely no grasp of.
The clients know this is also a scam.
The clients know many agencies don’t know what the hell they’re talking about when it comes to technology and how it influences human behavior.
The clients know that most advertising businesses have forgotten what business they’re in.
The clients will stop screwing us when we stop screwing them.
ReplyAlthough I might not agree to a few things in this article, but it’s a very valid point raised by Lee. Having worked at a couple of agencies and running my own startup think-tank for sometime, I’ve seen many of my ideas being executed tons of times without even being notified.
Also the window shopping of agency pitches should be compensated, because agencies do put in a lot of time and effort to come up with the pitch document.
ReplyHave your say