Agencies are in revolt over clients’ increasingly arrogant approach to the pitch process. The rebellion has started in Belgium, where 20 different agencies have suspended their websites to post a message of protest. What’s nifty is that the message forms a continuous web across the competitive divide, each agency posting a paragraph or so of the complete manifesto and giving a link to the next section. Representatives of all the big names, as well as local hot shops, are there: Publicis, McCann, BBDO, JWT, Ogilvy etc.
This is the worm turning. Agencies are sick of a commoditisation process which has led to up to 10 agencies vieing for a single piece of business, simply because the client believes it will get a better ‘deal’. Short-term financial gain for clients; but long-term suicide for the industry as a whole, as agencies buckle under the pressure and creativity is squeezed out.
See for yourself here. This rebellion could well have transborder legs.
