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Communications agencies go on “virtual strike” for a week

10 February 2010 - Brussels - The member agencies of the Belgian Association of Communication Companies have decided to demonstrate – in their own way – against the recent trend in agency pitches.

It is no secret that the communication sector has suffered from the economic crisis which started to bite in September 2008. In the overall negative economic context, advertisers have had to review their strategies and investments and often cut budgets which from an agency perspective, translates into cancelled or reduced campaigns.

In addition, a good number of advertisers have sought to re-evaluate their relationships with their partners by organising agency pitches.
Pitching is a common procedure in the communications sector, governed by a code of conduct signed by the associations representing advertisers and agencies in Belgium (UBA & ACC).

This code states, among other provisions, that an advertiser should limit the number of agencies selected for a full pitch to 3 (4 if the incumbent agency is also pitching) and recompense the selected agencies for incurred costs.

For several months now, it has become clear that some advertisers have been inviting sometimes more than 10 agencies to pitch against each other.

This is an untenable process for the agency because participating in a pitch is an extremely costly exercise in terms of both time & money.

It is a cost which, in one way or another, impacts other advertisers and/or the resources of the agencies themselves.

This places the agencies in an impossible dilemma: in the current economic climate, how can they refuse the opportunity to participate in a pitch, even though they know that there is a 1 in 10 chance of winning?

Agencies cut off « virtually » from 10 February 2010
In order to make advertisers in general aware of this problem, the members of ACC – agencies which represent 85% of advertising investment in Belgium – are conducting a virtual strike for one week. This means that the website of the agencies will be replaced from 10 to 16 February 2010 by a protest page issued by the ACC.

At each visit, the sites will feature a message explaining the ACC action and showing an excerpt from its open letter.

At the bottom of each page, a button will direct the visitor automatically to another participating agency, on whose site the rest of the open letter will be published. 

The ACC hopes that this symbolic strike action will make advertisers aware of the current problem of speculative pitches and encourage them to replace them with procedures which result in innovative, creative & practical choices, all the while respecting the interest of all involved.

About the ACC:

In Belgium, the communication agencies which believe in and defend commercial communication which is both honest & responsible and effective & creative unite in the Association of Communication Companies.

Together, they represent 85% of Belgian advertising investments. They are active in all sectors: advertising, brand activation, direct marketing, e-marketing, field marketing, events etc.

The members are chosen from among the most professional agencies in the country for their professional capability, financial integrity and business ethics. Membership of the ACC is the only professional recognition for a commercial communications agency.

As proof of this professionalism, in 2009, only member agencies of the ACC were among the winners of awards such as the EFFIES (rewarding effectiveness) and the Cannes Lions (rewarding international creativity).

To visit our website: www.accbelgium.be

For more information :

ACC, Association of Communication Companies asbl/vzw
122 rue de l'Escaut, B-1080 Brussels
Tél : 02 421 22 99 - Email : info@accbelgium.be

Stéphane Buisseret, Président - stephane.buisseret@aironair.com
Luc De Leersnyder, CEO - luc.dele@online.be

The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) is a Brussels-based organisation whose mission is to represent full-service advertising and media agencies and agency associations in Europe. EACA aims to promote honest, effective advertising, high professional standards, and awareness of the contribution of advertising in a free market economy and to encourage close co-operation between agencies, advertisers and media in European advertising bodies.