Ranking mirror on the wall...

What alternative instruments will allow comparisons and orientation in the sea of advertising agencies in future if the ranking of the Association of Swiss Advertising Agencies (BSW) lacks any basis for assessment? While in 2002 the agency Publicis topped the BSW list with the highest gross operating income, ahead of AY&R and Lowe (WW 10/03), it has been known for months that the agency charts will no longer exist in their current form. The reason for this is the US Sarbane-Oxley Act, which threatens managers of listed US companies with prison sentences if they publish false business figures for subsidiaries. In Switzerland, almost all BSW top ten agencies are affected. BSW is in good company in its search for a valid alternative. The European umbrella organization met at the beginning of the week to discuss new criteria and make a political push, although the chances are slim. Nevertheless, BSW wants to decide on the form and criteria of its ranking list by the end of the year. The medium-term goal remains "to publish transparent business figures again in three years' time", says BSW Managing Director Walter Merz. There is a persistent suspicion that some agencies have discovered a welcome protection against the disclosure of their figures in the US law. How else can you explain the fact that even their group companies sometimes present detailed business figures on their investor relations sites? Jürg Siegrist, Director of the Swiss Advertisers Association (SWA), will not miss the BSW ranking, as gross operating income is not the measure of all things. The success of an advertising agency can also be measured by the award yield, its new business and references. Whatever criteria are used to compile hit lists: For all those who are not vying for the top spots, they are debatable from the outset. And so the frustration over the crisis has also affected the industry rankings, which were previously beyond reproach. The creative ranking, in which the agencies Publicis, Ruf Lanz and Advico Young & Rubicam (AY&R) performed best this year, was called into question (WW 43/03). No less criticized was the advertising market study (WW 41/03), which in turn showed a completely different ranking: Jung von Matt/Limmat with Publicis ahead of Wirz. The Media Research Group ranking was criticized for being unrepresentative and non-transparent, showing only a top 20 list and excluding the statistical confidence interval a priori due to the pragmatic evaluation. Despite all claims to a "fair" agency ranking, the question must be allowed as to whether the next BSW ranking will square the circle. That seems doubtful. The only certainty is that advertising clients will have to assess additional pieces of the puzzle when choosing an agency in future, and whether rankings are poison for advertising agencies is ultimately up to them to decide...

Luca Aloisi