Last but not least: Dirty Pitches
The recently launched event pitch for the European Football Championship celebrations in Austria and Switzerland has brought to light an unpleasant phenomenon: free pitches. Uefa refuses to pay for the presentations, but nevertheless owns the rights to the concepts presented, even if the respective agencies come away empty-handed. Protests are now being voiced.
The recently launched event pitch for the European Football Championship celebrations in Austria and Switzerland has brought to light an unpleasant phenomenon: free pitches. Uefa refuses to pay for the presentations, but nevertheless owns the rights to the concepts presented, even if the respective agencies come away empty-handed. Protests are now being voiced.
As the Handelsblatt reported on Thursday, pitches such as the current one for Uefa are becoming a problem for the event agency sector. On average, an event agency spends one million euros per year on participating in tenders - with an average turnover of around 6.5 million euros, that's a lot. In an open letter, the industry association Forum Marketing-Eventagenturen protested against the Uefa tender - but the agency in question did not budge.
And why should they? The constantly growing number of agencies gives clients a free pass to poach ideas at zero cost. Market entrants will do anything for a job. Fighting back and demanding compensation would be tantamount to a forfeit. Free pitches are also commonplace in the advertising industry. However, this is not serious, as Lothar Leonhard, head of the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, confirmed to Handelsblatt. His agency never goes into free pitches, a reimbursement of costs - on average 15,000 euros - is appropriate. Although this does not cover the actual costs, it underlines the seriousness of the tender. It also automatically limits the number of agencies invited - five pitch participants would be ideal. "A free pitch is always at the expense of an agency's paying clients," Leonhard also points out.
As the Handelsblatt reported on Thursday, pitches such as the current one for Uefa are becoming a problem for the event agency sector. On average, an event agency spends one million euros per year on participating in tenders - with an average turnover of around 6.5 million euros, that's a lot. In an open letter, the industry association Forum Marketing-Eventagenturen protested against the Uefa tender - but the agency in question did not budge.
And why should they? The constantly growing number of agencies gives clients a free pass to poach ideas at zero cost. Market entrants will do anything for a job. Fighting back and demanding compensation would be tantamount to a forfeit. Free pitches are also commonplace in the advertising industry. However, this is not serious, as Lothar Leonhard, head of the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, confirmed to Handelsblatt. His agency never goes into free pitches, a reimbursement of costs - on average 15,000 euros - is appropriate. Although this does not cover the actual costs, it underlines the seriousness of the tender. It also automatically limits the number of agencies invited - five pitch participants would be ideal. "A free pitch is always at the expense of an agency's paying clients," Leonhard also points out.
