Professional associations in the sector of marketing communications of Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia supported the recommendation of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and the European Association of Communication Agencies (EACA) that advertisers should invite no more than 4 agencies in tenders for the selection of advertising agencies. The recommendation states that it is advised to invite three agencies plus the one with which the advertiser is currently working.
It is important to point out that the 3+1 recommendation applies only to the third and final stage of the tender call, which requires a significant commitment of financial and human resources. In previous stages of the competition, trade organizations say that clients should decide how many agencies they will invite, for example, in the first stage when the analysis and overview of the agency market is conducted, getting to know the agencies, or in the second stage when the advertiser seeks more detailed information on agencies themselves, their teams and works, and when rough financial offers can be expected. If a greater number of agencies are invited in the final stage of the competition, selection can be more complex and difficult for the advertiser, and the cost of competition is much higher.
Advocating the 3+1 model for pitch procedures are the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and the European Association of Communication Agencies (EACA), which is why the recommendations are valid at European level. This recommendation is also supported and promoted by the professional associations from Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia, which include the Croatian Association of Communication Agencies (HURA), an Macedonian Association of Agencies for Marketing (MAAM), the Slovenian Advertising Chamber (SOZ) and the Serbian Association for Marketing Communications (UEPS).
For this reason, the improvement of the tendering process and inviting a maximum of 3+1 agencies to a pitch will be the topic of a panel discussion at this year’s 23rd edition of the International Festival of Creativity Golden Drum in Ljubljana. The panel titled “The competitive pitch: Table for four, and nobody more” will be held 20 October (Thursday) at 17.00h, and it will include Davor Bruketa (HURA), Dejan Nedić (UEPS), Špela Oblak (SOZ), Sašo Pešev (MAAM) and Senad Zaimović (BIH).
Guidelines for successful implementation of competitions have been developed with a view to improve the tendering process and to provide even better service to advertisers. They rely on international practice summarized in the document “WFA EACA Pitch Guidelines” which was agreed among advertisers as part of the WFA – World Federation of Advertisers and advertising agencies gathered around the EACA – European Association of Communication Agencies. Guidelines are available for download at this link.
