The Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI) has launched a new charter for selecting media agencies. The introduction was made with support from a working group of member agencies, leading Irish marketers and pitch consultants. It follows on from the institute’s similar charter for creative agency selection. The charter provide brands and agencies with guiding principles to consider before deciding on a pitch process for their media agency, with the objective being to significantly reduce the volume and scale of pitches, particularly for clients with media spend under €500,000.
If a pitch process is decided upon, it also contains guiding principles for all parties involved, focusing on preparation and behaviours during the process. The charter is supported by several top brands, including Allianz, An Post, Diageo, Irish Ferries, Laya Healthcare, PTSB and Vodafone. Pitch consultants Ebiquity, Empirica, PT78 and Open Communications endorsed the document and will work with agencies and clients to ensure compliance.
Resource
Commenting on the charter, working group member Jonathan Conlon, chief operating officer, GroupM, a member of the IAPI board, said the charter is a welcome resource for all parties in a bid to create more sustainable working practices. “Statistics from the IAPI census show an estimated 20 pitches annually, with each pitch taking up 561 hours, which equates to a total of 6 full-time employees working on pitches per year in each media group.”
Conlon said a situation such as this cannot be maintained, so designing an industry wide charter with a call to action for all parties to respect and observe these guidelines was a positive move. The financial cost to agencies taking part in prolonged pitch procedures has been well publicised by Marketing.ie for some years. The latest IAPI industry census estimates that the average media pitch costs agencies nearly €70,000 on third party costs.
A copy of the new charter can be downloaded here
