US Investigation into Ad Agencies gathers pace!

Further to our recent post attaching the Wall Street Journal report into the US Justice Department into in house agency production, the investigation is gathering pace:

Article: Why The Investigation Into In House Agencies Is A Big Deal

As you can see, the Publicis Groupe received a subpoena on 14th December.

Given, as the article explains, the track record of the prosecutor, whose previous investigation into some agencies practices in print production led to convictions and, in some instances, to prison sentences, this is a very big deal.

Our view remains that bidding independent production and post against an in house production co/facility is wrong- it’s inherently flawed.

Many agencies in the UK share that view but some do not, or have not to date.

The IPA have indicated that will be issuing guidelines to their members. We hope they will simply say “don’t invite independent production and post production companies to bid where you (as an agency) intend,or contemplate you might, do the work yourself.”

We will circulate the guidelines when the IPA have finalised them.