SWA wants transparency in the media business
SWA Managing Director Jürg Siegrist welcomes the initiative that has gained momentum in the media industry. He notes that there are outliers in the market and that transparency is needed. Siegrist does not currently believe that legal action will be taken.
The Swiss Advertisers Association (SWA) welcomes the initiative that has been launched with regard to the media business, as Managing Director Jürg Siegrist told Werbewoche. The association is a co-sponsor of the working group that has been formed. Siegrist explained that the statements made by SW President Carlo Schmid were "not accusations". However, he added that they wanted to ensure that the SWA had made every effort to ensure absolute transparency. Anyone who listened to Carlo Schmid last Friday got the impression that there is a great deal of dissatisfaction among the clients. How does Siegrist assess the situation? "The competitive situation in the media market has grown considerably, and that can have consequences. Our communications industry is very creative, and there are all kinds of discounts. And not everything always goes to the clients - there are outliers," is the diplomatic answer.
So are these just isolated cases in Siegrist's eyes? "Well, it is of course the case that with large budgets, a few cases are enough to make the situation dramatic," explained Siegrist. But there are always two sides to this, according to the SWA Managing Director: "Unfortunately, not all clients pay media agencies fairly. Then, of course, they look for additional sources." However, the association is primarily concerned with transparency: "If a marketer has a policy of increasing sales by 100 percent, but only achieves 25 percent of this as income, we naturally want to know what happens to the other 75 percent," said Siegrist.
The SWA Managing Director does not currently believe that legal action will be taken: "We are only in the initial phase with the working group, and nothing is clear yet in terms of legal measures. But if irregularities emerge, we will have to look further." However, the possibility of an individual client taking legal action on their own initiative "cannot be ruled out".
For the time being, Siegrist welcomes the fact that the opportunity has now come to take prophylactic action. It is positive that all parties are represented in the appointed working group: Clients, marketers and agencies. When can results be expected? "That is still open. But we want to move forward as quickly as possible," emphasized Siegrist.
Carole Scheidegger
So are these just isolated cases in Siegrist's eyes? "Well, it is of course the case that with large budgets, a few cases are enough to make the situation dramatic," explained Siegrist. But there are always two sides to this, according to the SWA Managing Director: "Unfortunately, not all clients pay media agencies fairly. Then, of course, they look for additional sources." However, the association is primarily concerned with transparency: "If a marketer has a policy of increasing sales by 100 percent, but only achieves 25 percent of this as income, we naturally want to know what happens to the other 75 percent," said Siegrist.
The SWA Managing Director does not currently believe that legal action will be taken: "We are only in the initial phase with the working group, and nothing is clear yet in terms of legal measures. But if irregularities emerge, we will have to look further." However, the possibility of an individual client taking legal action on their own initiative "cannot be ruled out".
For the time being, Siegrist welcomes the fact that the opportunity has now come to take prophylactic action. It is positive that all parties are represented in the appointed working group: Clients, marketers and agencies. When can results be expected? "That is still open. But we want to move forward as quickly as possible," emphasized Siegrist.
Carole Scheidegger
