MindShare quits 4As in China over poaching fine row

A bitter row has broken out in China over the contentious issue of staff poaching - with MindShare resigning its membership of the 4As in the mainland. Staff poaching has been rampant recently, with an increasing number of media independents setting up in the mainland and disputes over the "gentlemen's agreement" imposed by the Hong Kong 4As have been flaring. A row over poaching penalties pushed MindShare into withdrawing from association with the 4As in China, after the media shop was allegedly accused of failing to pay the 4As-imposed poaching fines. Under current rules, an agency will be punished for poaching staff who have attended a 4As training programme if the poaching occurs within a year after completing the course. MindShare has refused to pay penalties for poaching junior staff from McCann-Erickson Guangming Beijing and Starcom Shanghai. According to MindShare Greater China CEO Leo Wong, the refusal to pay was based on principle. "Some people use this poaching rule to take advantage of MindShare China," said Mr Wong, who claimed the staff hired had already resigned from their previous employers when MindShare took them on. The McCann staffer was hired as a freelancer and management and MindShare informed McCann prior to the appointment, said Mr Wong. In a letter to the 4As, he described the penalty as "total nonsense" and accused unnamed parties of "trying to take advantage of MindShare". "We completely agree with the 4As and (the poaching penalty) is a straightforward situation," said McCann Beijing associate media director Andrew Hebden. "It was a decision taken by the vote of the group of 4As agencies." Mr Hebden said McCann had filed two poaching complaints against MindShare to the 4As; the first had already been settled. The penalty for the first offence is HK$50,000; this doubles for the second attempt made to poach. McCann, Ammirati Puris Lintas and MindShare all handle Unilever accounts, with MindShare snatching the AOR media business in a pitch last year. "In these two cases, I don't think we have done anything wrong," said Mr Wong. "We will not pay any money and, in fact, I would like to complain that some people are trying to use this condition to take advantage of us." Hong Kong 4As chairman Jeffrey Yu said he was very disappointed with MindShare's decision to pull out of the 4As in China. "We're there to exercise the rules and enhance training; we don't want to become police to find out who is wrong and right. "You can't use (the poaching penalty) as a way to blame the 4As," said Mr Yu, who said the whole issue reflected the "lack of maturity" among the agencies' management. Mr Yu said staff poaching and training had become a major issue in China, with a growing number of media shops not committing to providing adequate staff training. However, MindShare's Mr Wong said he had doubts over the real contribution of the 4As in China, as it operated out of Hong Kong as a subsidiary of the China business committee. Asked if MindShare would consider rejoining the 4As at a later stage, Mr Wong said it was unlikely as he felt the 4As did not really function as an adequate representative body in the mainland. Mr Yu of the 4As said the association would welcome MindShare back any time - as long as it paid outstanding penalties. However, Mr Wong repeated his refusal to settle the fines, and said he was prepared to fight the case in court if need be.

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