As part of the process, every pitch must be reported to the 4As’ secretariat, which will coordinate the stipulated pitch fee of 30,000 pesos (US$632) to each agency. Ten per cent of that will be paid to the secretariat as a service fee. “We believe a pitch fee ensures that clients hold an honest-to-goodness pitch — not just an exercise to pinch brains or scare their current agencies, which is occurring more and more lately,” said Yoly Ong, chairman of the 4As and Grey Global Group.
“At first, not everyone agreed that we should be charging clients. Smaller agencies felt it would disadvantage them because if the list is cut short, they’d be the first to go. But we put it to a vote, and the majority want this implemented.”
Ong added that the process has already begun with some clients. Local power conglomerate Meralco was the first to use a pitch fee last month.
The 4As is the largest regulatory board in the Philippines, with representation from over 70 agencies. In addition, a memorandum of understanding is due to be signed by the Philippines’ other key industry body, the Philippines Association of National Advertisers.
Pitch fees were recently introduced in Malaysia and Thailand. However, attempts to bring in a similar requirement in markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong have met with little success.
