Your leading letters from Andrew Melsom and Bill Thompson regarding the
new Incorporated Society of British Advertisers and the Institute of
Practitioners in Advertising pitch initiative (Campaign, 10 November),
reflect admirably the divergent views of what I would call ‘old
attitude’ and ‘new attitude’ in the industry.
Melsom (‘old attitude’ in case you needed the reminder) passed cynical
and negative judgment on the ISBA/IPA pitch guide before it had even
been published. Mystic Meg would be impressed. His prediction that the
guidelines ‘probably come down in favour of the agency’ turned out to be
totally inaccurate. Those of us who attended the ISBA/IPA Client
Partnership conference (I didn’t see you on the delegates list, Mr
Melsom) could appreciate first hand the good sense of the new guide as
it was launched by John Hooper and Nick Phillips: mutual benefits for
clients and agencies by improving the professionalism and quality of the
pitch process.
Yes, agencies have been abused. The new guide, if adhered to, will help
eradicate abuse. Clients can also benefit from enforcing a more
professional process and achieve a satisfactory result with less
management time wasted, by shortening the pitch-list, discussing in
advance remuneration arrangements, having all decision-makers present
etc.
Bill Thompson (‘new attitude’) implores us to return to building the
‘partnership habit’ (the subject of the ISBA/IPA conference). He rightly
points to that core ingredient of trust as being important in building
strong business partnerships - an ingredient that seemed to be in short
supply during and since the recession.
We do need to work on fostering trust and loyalty to develop enduring
relationships. The place for that to start is the pitch process. I think
we can all agree that a business relationship founded on trust is an
admirable objective to aim for. Concerted effort on both sides, with the
‘new attitude’ very much in evidence, will help all our businesses to
flourish.
Andrew Ward, TBWA, London N1
