CPA JOINS INDEPENDENT WORLD PRODUCERS ALLIANCE IN CALL TO ADVERTISERS TO RETHINK IN-HOUSE PRODUCTION MODEL
By Commercial Producers Association of South Africa
The Commercial Producers Association of South Africa – “the CPA” – is pleased to announce that it has joined a call by global production associations to advertisers to look more carefully at in-house production.
In an open letter circulated on 16th April, the CPA together with the European Producers Association (EPA), the American Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) and others, calls on advertisers to consider the following important questions:
- Why is agency in-house production better for my brand than working with independent producers who compete openly to deliver the best quality at the best price?
- Is the agency acting primarily in my best interest or their own?
These questions are more valid than ever as global corporate giants like WPP Media (UK), Publicis Groupe (France), Omnicom and Accenture Song (US) have acquired several advertising agencies in South Africa that were previously owned and managed by South Africans.
Their model is to diversify from the traditional role of agencies, to take production which was for 35+ years outsourced to independent South African-owned production companies, in-house at the Agency. Marketers have been told by these agencies that in-house is faster and cheaper, however the opposite has been shown to be true.
In addition, creativity and quality can be compromised when agencies curtail open competition to unfairly advantage their shareholders and management. And, of course, all and any profits leave South Africa through these global corporate giants.
Independent production companies throughout the world believe the time has come to set the record straight rather than continuing to shield these companies from scrutiny. South Africa’s creative economy is in decline due, in part, to this practice and is now calling for greater transparency and awareness amongst the country’s marketing community.
Independent producers are not asking for any special considerations or favours – simply that marketers ask a few key questions to better enable an environment where competition and creativity are once again able to grow.
The call comes to highlight to marketers why the big agency model – which has, over the last decade, moved to take commercial production in-house – may serve the agency’s agenda but is not necessarily best for brands or South Africa’s flailing creative economy.
