Telkom account: pitch imperfect
Advertising watchdog the ACA isn’t buying the argument by three suspended agencies justifying their fee-free pitches for the Telkom account, and Telkom is sailing above the fray
Three well-known agencies suspended by the Association for Communication & Advertising (ACA) for transgressing the industry body’s code of conduct governing tenders and pitches, are fighting back and appealing the decision. DDB SA, Ireland/Davenport and Wunderman SA were all involved in the R80m Telkom account pitch. The business eventually went to WPP-aligned Wunderman (above-the-line creative and digital marketing), Demographica (direct marketing) and Retail Insight (retail and brand activations). DDB, part of the Omnicom network, was the incumbent above-the-line agency. The three agencies were sanctioned as the ACA believes the pitch was irregular because of the high number of agencies (15) invited to participate, and a decision by Telkom not to pay a pitch fee. But Haydn Townsend, Wunderman group CEO, believes the ACA has got it wrong. He says Wunderman was simply acting as a "document vendor" to process paperwork on the pitch and that an entirely new agency, Fluid, has been cre...
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