After a year of budget squeezes and cost-driven pitches, it seems some of the traditional boundaries are being crossed.
Most recently, WPP (via Ogilvy & Mather) is thought to have made a concerted effort to grab the account for an upcoming global brand campaign for Standard Chartered, despite the fact that HSBC is one of the holding group’s premier accounts. The agency avoided potential repercussions as TBWA, which has worked with Standard Chartered for several years, won the business.
Most recently, WPP (via Ogilvy & Mather) is thought to have made a concerted effort to grab the account for an upcoming global brand campaign for Standard Chartered, despite the fact that HSBC is one of the holding group’s premier accounts. The agency avoided potential repercussions as TBWA, which has worked with Standard Chartered for several years, won the business.
One media agency source said he had seen cash-strapped agencies going for conflicting work. “Sadly, I think a lot of clients are unaware it’s happening, but it’s also driven by the fact that there are more pitches this year because clients are examining where they are spending and saving the most money. If anything, this recession has made a lot of agencies show their true colours in terms of the sort of business they’ll go for. It crosses lines in terms of ethics and professionalism, and there’s a short-term mentality about it.”
Sources have also noted that there is an assumption that “everyone is doing it”. Clients keen to reduce agency fees may even accept that an agency will consider taking on conflicting work as a result. One source from a 4As agency admitted that if one agency within an agency group held a conflicting account, the same team could pitch for a business under the guise of a sister agency.
Some brands often still want monogamy. “We categorically request a no-conflict approach. With international accounts we would prefer them not to have another financial competitor,” HSBC’s group head of communications David Hall simply stated.
However, others admit that for MNCs looking for alignment regionally or globally, finding an agency with no conflict anywhere in the world is tough. That has led to several experiments with agency alignments, including WPP’s standalone agency for Dell, Enfatico (now part of Y&R).
Kenneth Hong, director of global communications at LG Electronics, set up LG One, mainly comprised of Ogilvy PR and Hill & Knowlton, to produce a global solution that avoided conflict.
“Conflict accounts were a big issue. LG has five business units and each unit has on average half a dozen competitors in each market,” Hong said. “ We knew if we couldn’t resolve this issue upfront, there was no realistic way we could have reached consensus on a global AOR.”
But taking on agencies that work with rival brands can also benefit a client. According to regional digital director of MRM Mark Cripps, as long as brands are confident that their agencies can keep their confidential information a secret, they can tap into the extra experience teams have in a particular sector.
“From the client’s point of view they have every right to be sensitive about this,” he added. “But many clients can have this trust in their agency, and if an agency doesn’t
conform to these safeguards, you know it will never find work again.”
This article was originally published in 22 October 2009 issue of Media.
