Request For Fairness (RFF)

February 10, 2010 By David Burn Leave a Comment

Agencies and clients are peas in a pod. Right? Uh, not always.
Jennifer Modarelli, president of White Horse in Portland, writing on Ad Age says the request for proposal process is messed up.

Even though RFPs precede an actual business relationship, they contain an implied transaction: We’ll invest heavily in time, brainpower and, yes, emotion to demonstrate how we can move your business forward. Your end of the bargain is to acknowledge that contribution at each step of the process.

In related news, Belgian ad agencies are on “virtual strike” this week to protest the high number of shops invited to pitch by overly eager clients. The agencies have taken their sites down this week and replaced them with an interlinked story about their sad plight. It begins like this:

For more on the strike, see Some Minor Issues by Belgian marketing professional, Steven Verbruggen.

Filed Under: Advocacy, Agencies, RFP

About David Burn

I wrote my first ad for a local political candidate when I was 17. She went on to win her race, and I felt the power of persuasive copy for the first time. Starting in Portland in 1995, I worked my way across the country as a copywriter and eventually became a content director making media products for big packaged goods brands. I returned to Oregon in 2008, and now I focus on building brands for companies that matter, including this one.