The End Of The Road For Free PR Creative?

Sarah Kent, deputy managing director at Haslimann Taylor, writes:

Confused.com has been making news in the world of PR again recently. Following on from its decision to invite agencies to pitch for its account via Twitter (a Twitch no less!), the company has now been making headlines by offering to pay unsuccessful agencies for their creative ideas.

In most areas of business ‘company pays agency for creative work’ is hardly front page news and the fact that is has got so many people talking highlights a fundamental issue faced by agencies in the weird and wonderful world of the PR pitch.

Once past the credentials stage, agencies are expected to respond, in detail, to a live brief. Agencies often get their best brains together to create a slick presentation that includes research, insights, strategic consultancy and a boat load of campaign ideas for good measure. Some of the most valuable tools of our trade are literally given away – a practice you’d be hard pushed to find in other professional service industries.

And what happens when you don’t get the business? In some cases, agencies can only sit back and watch as someone else is appointed and then implements a campaign that looks suspiciously familiar. Or worse still, it turns out to be a ‘ghost pitch’ where the client in question doesn’t end up appointing anyone at all, and everyone involved is left feeling like they have just provided an elaborate and free brainstorming service.

The PR industry has long debated the issue of whether we should charge for pitches, but unless there is buy-in from every single PR outfit in the country, the idea is unworkable.

So this recent move from confused.com is encouraging. At best it may encourage other companies to follow suit; at worst it at least highlights the fact that ideas presented in pitches have value in their own right. But the practice does pose two fundamental questions. Will agencies want to sell their concepts to be implemented by someone else and, if they do, how will the value of those concepts be calculated? It will be interesting to see how confused.com and the agencies involved reach an agreement on the value of a campaign, before the success of that campaign is known.