Advertising agencies seek equal roles

Dubai: The UAE Chapter of the International Advertising Association has had enough. It believes the time has come to make changes in the clients' practice of calling in agency pitches as a matter of routine. Such a practice is being held up by agencies as outdated and in immediate need of correction.

But rather than take a confrontational approach vis-à-vis clients, the IAA has decided to engage in a free-wheeling dialogue with clients to arrive at a common solution. The process started with a panel discussion last evening — featuring agency and client representatives — and will be repeated. There will be a further two forums where the same theme — "Better pitches, better relationships" will be revisited.

At the end of the process, the IAA believes they will be able to put together a voluntary code of practices that will take on board suggestions from both agencies and clients to improve the situation.

So what's wrong with clients calling on agencies to put up pitches as part of a time-honoured vetting process? "The pitching relationship at this point in time is out of balance, it's broken and needs fixing," said Kamal Dimachkie, executive regional managing director at Leo Burnett UAE, Kuwait and the Lower Gulf.

"We feel that if this situation of chronic pitching continues unchecked and undefined, you are wasting economic value. Right now, you have agency and client resources focused on trying to qualify the next relationship.

"Every time you have a protected pitching process, you are placing value generation on hold or holding it back. But if a client and an agency collaborate to come up with the best ideas and for the client's brands, then this in principle becomes a relationship between equals."

Conversation

Strong words, but the advertising industry had been raising this issue for the better part of three years now. Most of these discussions took place at the internal level or in a one-on-one with key clients.

This is why yesterday's panel discussion assumes further significance. It represents the first concerted effort by the IAA to push the issue on to a wider platform and engage directly with client representatives.

"I think this is the very first time there's a public conversation going on and that's good," said Dimachkie, who was one of the panelists. "In the past there have been attempts to implement some rules, but these were not adhered to and the whole process collapsed.

"Unless we don't have this conversation it will continue heading in a direction where the bulk of the pressure and the onus is being loaded on the agency's side and not shared. That is dangerous.

"Now, let's put everything in the open; let's moderate the dialogue through a neutral body and try to capture what emerges and place it in a voluntary code of best practices."

But what has been the default setting in the industry is not about to change overnight. Industry stakeholders are well aware of it.

Popular method

"Pitching is a popular method that advertisers use for selecting agencies — it is not likely to disappear anytime soon," said Dr Lance de Masi, president of the IAA, UAE Chapter.

"There will always be lingering areas of disagreement and refusal to alter undesirable and senseless behaviour. But by the time the series is over, we will have done justice to the topic and for the first time in the history of the industry in this region, drafted a code of conduct to guide practice."

"The hope is that when we are finished there will be fewer versions of the truth and that we will have created for advertisers and agencies conditions for making more effective choices."

That, by any measure, would be a good start.