Take a stand - Protect your pitches

I’ve watched over the last few weeks as various high profile people in the PR industry (including PRCA Director, Francis Ingham) have debated the problem of pitch protection in the press. While I applaud them for raising this serious issue, it’s been frustrating to see the lack of coverage on how to address this concern.

Actually the problem of “thought theft” is nothing new. Marketing agencies across the board have been facing this dilemma for years. But for PR which increasingly involves more dynamic, thought-led projects, this seems to be a growing issue.

So in response to that here is The MCCA’s answer. The real problem when dealing with so called “thought theft” is how to protect an idea. Unlike those working in design or creative writing who can copyright the product of their labours, there is no copyright in the idea itself. But there are other ways to ensure you’ve covered your ideas. At the MCCA we offer our members a pitch protection service in conjunction with legal specialists K&L Gates. Using confidentiality laws we are able to give our members additional comfort that the ideas they present are subject to standard non-disclosure rules.

We’ve been running this service for six years, so it has been my pleasure to see many agencies benefit from using it. We’ve found that often just the awareness that the pitch has been through the system acts as a deterrent. Even better some members have suggested that the pitch protection actually helps them to win pitches, as the clients think they must have some impressive ideas if they’ve taken the time to protect them.

Pitches take a tremendous amount of unpaid work to put together, for better or worse that is an accepted part of the industry, however “thought theft” should not be.

Mike Spicer: Why creative industries deserve a pat on the back

Guest blogger Mike Spicer, Chairman of the MCCA and Group Managing Director of EHS Brann:

Over the past few weeks I’ve read a couple of articles that have got me thinking about our industry, and not in a ‘we’re all doomed’ way either.  The first was The Sunday Times Top 100, and the second was Claire Billing’s recent article in the Media Guardian on the ad industry’s role in the UK’s economic recovery. 

With so many agencies in the Top 100, and the industry heralded as the ‘rescuer of the British economy’ it’s clear that creative industries are stepping up to the mark again, in spite of the recession.  Remember that this isn’t the first time this has happened – think back to the ‘Cool Britannia’ era in the late 1990’s, with Blair having tea and a chat with Oasis.  That was as we were coming out of the 1990-91 downturn and I saw the same optimism and dynamism then as I’m starting to see appear again in the industry again now.   

In my opinion, this just goes to show that in a recession people look for different and more innovative ways of doing things, so they look to the creative industry for inspiration.  We have the potential, perhaps more than any other industry to be dynamic and inventive, and pioneer modern thinking across the board.  During the good times, people get too caught up in making money, creative industries included, and some of the creative soul and flair disappears. 

The way I see it, a recession is a catalyst for change; an exciting time which we should be embracing rather than running scared of.  Yes, there will be losers.  There always are and for a good reason.  The agencies that survive will be the ones that aren’t pampered by old models and can react to the economic climate in new ways that exceed client expectations. 

Speculation about which marketing discipline will do the best misses the point. I don’t think we’ll really see one discipline eclipse another. Rather it is those that haven’t prepared that will struggle.  To be honest I’m tired of the constant doom-mongering in this industry, the negativity in the face of suggestions that actually, we are playing a key role in saving the British economy.  Why can’t we talk our industry up, and give ourselves a pat on the back for once?

Hey big spender

It was interesting to see the recent research which highlights that the COI's media spend is continuing to rise, meaning it is edging ever closer to a return to being the UK’s biggest marketing spender. It seems like almost every area of marketing is due to get a slice of the pie (except outdoor). While government projects may be exciting to pitch, win and create; it also comes with having to work as part of a multi agency team.  

This is fine in theory, but in reality these arrangements are not always as simple as they should be. I’ve often found multi-agency modeling goes wrong when the client isn’t able to manage all the different companies involved well. When clients know what they want, have a clear strategy and are open with all parties about remunerations, then it is up to each agency to make these arrangements work and deliver their part.

The problems start when clients don’t do this or even fail to communicate exactly how they are dividing the work up. Understandably, when this happens all the agencies involved will push for a bigger slice of the project pie. What is important is that the project has strong direction and guidance to prevent any possible dispute. COI is well used to dividing its huge budget across a number of agencies but other brands may be more likely to encounter issues with multi agency modeling.

At the MCCA we always advise our member agencies to show the way by acting professionally but at the same time tackling any problems head on. The reality is that so much is about multiple channels and multiple suppliers. So clients must develop their skills or even retrain to deliver the best possible brand communication with multiple partners involved.