Missive being sent

I love that word - missive, used in a friendly procurement sort of way. The 4A's in the USA have sent out a letter (aka a missive) last week to 30 major industry consultants (like the AAR, Haystack). The letter asks them to adopt contract language that reflects advertising agencies' right to retain creative ideas presented during new-business pitches.

The 4A's letter was endorsed by around 50 Madison Avenue agencies, such as JWT, Anomaly and R/GA.

Apparently there has been an increase recently in agencies complaining about clients' desire to own ideas and work shown during the new-business process. They cynically say that it is usually hidden as a clause at the very back of a 14 page NDA (that is a very long NDA).

I have heard of this happening once in a big pitch for a retailer, where the procurement folks asked if they paid a nominal pitch fee of £5k to all the losing agencies, could they have the right to own the creative work developed for the pitch !. I thought that this was not in the spirit of things (I would have offered half that - joke). Also what would the winning agency think ? We like your idea but here is one that we prepared earlier?

I have an agency at the moment asking for a similar type clause to be added into their contract (they have been appointed by the client). But they want it quite clear that for any development work taken in any potential pitch process they want to own it. I have never seen this before and it seems reasonable to me.

Do you think that this is the year of agencies being stronger about owning their IPR?

The replacement to Kelly's Directory

Went to the AAR End of Year Drinks party last night. It was great to see Kerry and Paul and lots of agency folk there.

Companies such as AAR (The Haystack Group and Creative Brief being the other two ones that I would also recommend) play an invaluable role in helping procurement and marketing know and keep up to date with the very complex and every changing agency market. Years ago (before the good old internet) I had to rely on Kelly's Directory (hands up who remembers that?). As Procurement we work alongside the process that they bring in managing all the commercial and contract elements of a pitch.