A number of scandals and insinuations of corrupt and unethical practices have been tied with the industry of advertising and public relations recently. Are contracting authorities – including those coming from state institutions, those funded from the budget, or bigger businesses that base their campaigns on pitching – are they conducting the selection process only formally, while in the background there are already agreed service providers?
Is it necessary to conduct public procurement in the area of creative industries (visual or the one that defines the processes of managing communications) and how is the contractor selected? Is it the one who has a connection and who will give a certain percentage back to the client? Or is it the one that has the best creative solution, where knowledge will ultimately prevail?
In most cases those who order pitches already know with whom they would like to work. The less creative contracting authorities base their decisions on stories about well-known agencies, and those more creative will venture into a transparent selection procedure. In most cases this is done by the formula of prearranged jobs in the process of collaboration with the public sector.
Depending on the country in the region, well-known agencies are engaged or those well-connected. Although we are out of the crisis, and budgets have increased, most habits remained the same. In a few cases, those who put creative above their personal interests will establish an expert committee, even including representatives of the agencies that are not from their country, in order to choose the best solution.
Are public calls or tenders only a form to meet the procedure requirements? This is one of the important questions not only for our industry, but other industries as well. Whether these habits will change in order to free the market – regardless of the business or personal interests – is one of the challenges of our time. Ultimately, it’s not all just about the agreement, but also the quality, as well as some specific services provided by only certain types of agency.
