The trade bodies for clients and agencies are to join forces in a
concerted campaign against what some industry figures have labelled the
‘dictatorial’ demands of national newspaper publishers over the supply
of colour reproduction.
Both the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers and the Institute
of Practitioners in Advertising claim that they are being railroaded by
some publishers into using a single designated supplier for colour ads -
a practice they say that restricts commercial choice. They also claim
that it takes quality control away from the agency and client.
Tim Hannon, creative services director at BMP DDB Needham and chairman
of the IPA’s creative services committee, said it was common for
agencies to receive only one colour proof of an ad before it went to
press and that repro prices were often non-negotiable.
‘We are being presented with take-it-or-leave-it colour at a take-it-or-
leave-it price,’ he said. Hannon also expressed concern about the
imposition of earlier copy deadlines which, if missed, could lead to no
proof whatsoever being made available.
ISBA’s press committee meets next week to discuss the issue. Dominic
Owens, the advertising and corporate identity manager of the Prudential
and chairman of the committee, said: ‘We share the IPA’s worries. We are
very unhappy about this.’
Owens added that the changes to copy deadlines could destroy the short-
term colour ad market.
ISBA and the IPA are proposing that publishers select three approved
suppliers and let agencies choose between them for individual jobs.
Jeremy Reed, ad director on the Independent and the Independent on
Sunday, defended the publishers’ position. ‘To ensure consistency of
colour quality, we need consistency of colour reproduction.’
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