Pitching - Brands and media agencies are close to agreed guidelines

Chris Pash
By Chris Pash | 27 November 2020

Advertisers and media agencies are close to agreeing, after years of trying, on a set of rules to govern the conduct of pitches.

The AANA (Australian Association of National Advertisers) and Media Federation of Australia (MFA) hope to have a final document by early next year. 

The timetable was announced today by AANA CEO John Broome at his body’s RESET conference.

“We will be publishing Australia’s first comprehensive, industry led best practices and guidelines into agency pitching,” Broome told the conference.

“We are in the final stages of consultation, but these practices will enable every marketer, no matter what their previous pitching experience, to arrive at a mutually beneficial agency agreement with their chosen partner.

“More news on that in the new year.”

The MFA and the AANA have been trying for some years to draft a fair and transparent agreement between buying agencies and brands.

A previous template created by the AANA was rejected by the MFA last year, saying the term “mutually beneficial” was undermined by clauses in the draft contract.

The MFA described the agreement as “onerous” and compliance “improbable if not impossible”.

Agencies have long complained about the endless round of pitches, and the resources going into them, mostly without being paid.

And some also say clients are sometimes too quick to go to a competitive pitch without first taking any issues to the incumbent.

But pitches are the lifeblood of the industry and, if you get it right, a path to growth.

Darren Woolley, CEO of pitch consultants TrinityP3, says providing pitch guidelines to the advertising industry is an incredibly valuable and challenging task.

"Therefore the AANA and MFA must be congratulated for achieving agreement on these industry guidelines for the Australian market," he told AdNews.

"But, as their counterparts in many other markets have found, these guidelines are only as effective as the level of compliance amongst advertisers, their procurement teams and the pitch consultants, TrinityP3 included.

"There are as many different variations of pitch practice, especially under lock-down, as there are pitches.

"Ultimately, the best pitch practice is the one that results in the agency of best fit, inflicting as little harm as possible to all involved along the way." 

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