TrinityP3 Blog

Leo Burnett Pay Up to the US Government for Alleged Over Billing

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:53:48 +1000

In AdAge today is a report that Leo Burnett has paid the US Government $USD 15.5 million to settle a legal dispute on over billing for the "Army of One" campaign. While the agency denies any wrong doing, it does not reflect well on the professionalism of the agency or the industry when such high profile occur. But it does make you wonder how many other smaller instances of over-billing occur on a day to day basis without being detected? TrinityP3 do not undertake financial audits, we leave that work to more qualified accountants like Firm Decisions ASJP and the like. In our experience performing agency remuneration reviews, over billing is usually caused by misunderstanding of either the terms of the contract, or is because retainers are often negotiated so incredibly lean that the agency is forced to try and recoup revenue through services outside of the retainer such as production and third party services. There are a number of things a marketer can and should do to insure the agency remuneration is transparent and fair:

Even facing recession, price should not be the final or only criteria

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:38:49 +1000

With the world economy teetering on the edge of recession and with many organisations looking to cut expenditure, the biggest mistake is to immediately go for the lowest price. The saying "you get what you pay for" applies in booms and busts. And while during recessions the market is more competitively priced and bargains are available, the problem is that you can also get false economy from simply selecting the cheapest offering. The smart strategy is to negotiate on value, rather than simply price. By way of example, lets look at a retailer who is reviewing their electronic art and print management.

The power of competitive pressure on advertising agency fees

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:31:08 +1000

We are all aware of the direction the world wide economy is heading. But in the past two months it appears that agency fees are going the same way during the pitch process. But the same cannot be said for agency fees when discussing the negotiations with an incumbent agency. It appears in their desire to win, or some may say buy, business, some agencies are slashing their overheads in their retainer proposals and offering key senior staff for free to make their remuneration proposals more desirable. But when the same agencies come to renegotiating their fees with an existing client they scream "blue murder" when it is suggested they could look at any change but an increase to their existing fee structure. Are they that secure in the relationship that they think that in these difficult times, their existing client would not put the business out to pitch?

Are carbon offsets the first refuse of rogues?

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:40:46 +1000

In this special audio presentation Chris Sewell, Business Director for TrinityP3 consulting services, sits down with David Crew of On Paper to talk about the explosion of marketing businesses claiming ‘Carbon neutrality’ as a marketing position while not understanding that offsets are the first refuse of rogues. Chris is passionate about reducing carbon emissions in the business he knows - advertising. http://papertellsastory.com/2008/11/07/sustaincommworld-live-with-christopher-sewell/

Greening the internet by the Americans?

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:16:56 +1000

What are these green painted bike paths doing in the middle of Manhattan? Was the land of consumption really starting to care about the state of the planet? We had arranged to see a number of companies including the leading advertiser industry body to test the water with our environmental marketing solutions. What was the percentage weighting for the environment compared with saving the dollars in a time of unprecedented institutional unrest? The first day of my meetings corresponded with a 700-point drop on the Dow Jones. Would anyone be interested in greening up their marketing spend in a strategically and balanced way when simply slashing the advertising budget would do the trick?

Microsoft has an interesting view on marketers and advertisers

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:47:27 +1000

I know this video has been around on the internet for a while, but I am always amazed that it was created by Microsoft. I have never really thought of Microsoft as a customer centric organisation considering how hard I have always found their operating systems and program interfaces to use. Anyway, this is the consumer breaking up with the marketer, or probably more correctly it should be the brand, because consumers have relationships with brands. They only have relationships with marketers if they are dating, married or living with them. Watching it again, I think it is really interesting at how many traditional agencies and their clients are still embracing the broadcasting approach to communications reflected in this video, rather than join the conversation that consumers are already having amongst themselves. Is it because it is easier to simply keep talking at people rather than stop to listen and respond to what they are saying in a meaningful way? Clearly if marketers continue to talk at their consumers rather than with them, then perhaps the Microsoft view of the relationship between marketers and consumers will come true. Or is it true for some brands already?

How to position your advertising agency as relevant to the modern world

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:39:37 +1000

I received an email overnight from Euro RSCG on: Euro RSCG and The National Media Group Discuss The Importance of Branding: The Cautionary Tale of the Bailout Considering the global newsworthiness of this topic, Euro RSCG had seized the opportunity to make a valuable and relevant contribution to the discussion. Many times when we are running agency search and selection projects for clients, unsuccessful agencies will ask for advice on how they can better position themselves with clients? The answer is by being relevant, interesting and memorable. The Euro RSCG email reproduced below does all of that.

Can you handle the truth on agency - client relationships?

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:55:57 +1000

Okay, this is a little over the top, but it makes you consider the concept of a great relationship when it comes to your creative agency. Do you want an agency that just meekly executes your every whim and wish? Or is a great agency relationship one with passion and commitment? Beyond the basics of mutual respect, understanding and shared values, what do you think are the hallmarks of a great client - agency relationship? And what do you do to foster and maintain yours?

"Film is dead"

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:50:30 +1000

So says Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the writers and directors for Crank. Check out the comments on high definition digital video using the Red One camera by some of the world's leading film directors here So why do so many commercial film directors still insist on shooting on expensive and outdated film?

Advertiser’s Carbon Footprint equivalent to 380,000,000 cars!

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:41:20 +1000

According to our calculations marketing communication globally is responsible for over 500 million tonnes of CO2-e per year and is forecast to grow by over 5 percent every year thereafter. To get this into some prospective, this is the equivalent amount CO2-e generated in the same period by over 380,000,000 average fuel-efficient cars. This is more than half the total number of cars on the road today!

Why do agencies cringe and marketers laugh when they are confronted with truth in advertising?

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:36:00 +1000

One of the best films made on advertising is "Truth in Advertising" and available on DVD from Amazon. In this satirical take on the advertising process, the agency and client personnel say what they are thinking. If you have not seen it, it is well worth taking the time. But when we have played this video to an audience of advertising agency people and marketers, the agency people cringe and their clients laugh. Why?

Why service level agreements ( SLAs ) are not relevant to marketing services contracts

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:21:43 +1000

Wikipedia says an SLA is a formally negotiated agreement between two parties. It is a contract that exists between customers and their service provider, client or between service providers. It records the common understanding about services, priorities, responsibilities, guarantee, and such — collectively, the level of service. For example, it may specify the levels of availability, serviceability, performance, operation, or other attributes of the service. SLAs were first introduced in the 1980s in the telecommunications industry, but are now wide spread throughout business. But in our experience, traditional SLA formats are not relevant in advertising and marketing, where the level of service delivery is directly influenced and impacted by the behaviour and actions of the buyer. In these circumstances, we recommend an engagement agreement, defining requirements of both parties.

Changing the name from P3 to TrinityP3

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:53:03 +1000

On July 1 this year we announced the change in name of the company I started eight and a half years ago from P3 to TrinityP3. The reaction and comments have been incredibly positive, but the number one question is "why?" Why did we feel compelled to change the brand name that we had spent eight years in time, effort and money developing? The pragmatic answer is, "To avoid the confusion with our competitors in Asia who have a very similar name to ours". The more significant answer is "Why not?" P3 has developed significantly since its inception and grown in size, from a one person operation to now more than sixteen industry consultants in Australia and New Zealand and now five people in Asia.

Film versus digital video - the war is over and film is dead

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:50:29 +1000

For all those production companies and agency creative people who still insist on shooting 35 mm film or 16 mm film instead of high definition digital video, this latest posting on YouTube from AH Films puts another nail in your coffin. Holding on to out-dated practices long after the rest of the industry moves on is not innovative, is not leading edge and is not creative.

Big Brother's shrinking carbon footprint from it's rating demise.

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:51:40 +1000

As the station bosses worried themselves, then the show into an early grave, there is some good news. Big Brother was contributing over 1.5 tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere for each 30 seconds of viewing during the peak of the latest series. This national audience was very attractive to any would be advertiser wishing to promote their goods and services during the show. Unfortunately as the shows popularly waned so did the advertisers enthusiasm. As the ratings tumbled so did Big Brothers massive carbon footprint. He finally got his marching orders when during it's lowest ratings period it could only claim responsibility for just over half a tonne of carbon for each 30 second spot. So having failed to attract the necessary number of carbon eating plasma watching consumers he was finally laid to rest. Look on the bright side, the show was so boring that the carbon emissions were reduced by over a tonne! Let's just hope that all those viewers turned their TV's off and had a game of cards under their energy saving light bulbs.