The 4As council president Vincent Lee said that the association would also be advising clients not to call more than three agencies for each pitch. The advertiser will now be required to pay a RM10,000 (US$2,654) fee to the 4As for each participating agency, which would be returned to the advertiser once the pitch is over.
"The whole idea is to make the process more professional," said Lee. "Pitches are stressful for both clients and agencies and we need to encourage clients to look at agencies' track records prior to the pitch."
Lee added that the current pitch environment in Malaysia was one whereby even small clients would invite five or six agencies to pitch; therefore, the implemented pitch fees are expected to reduce the length and complexity of pitches -- the Tourism Malaysia pitch lasted over nine months after an initial 27 agencies were invited.
Thailand is the only other Southeast Asian market to have mandatory pitch fees, requiring a 100,000 baht (US$2,388) fee for private sector company pitches.
