In Beligium, there is an industry charter that sets norms around the selection process for agencies (the U.S. has no such industry charter).
Unfortunately, many advertisers in Belgium have stopped following the charter.
In response, many of Belgium's ad agencies have started a one-week virtual strike to protest the way clients conduct pitches in their country.
So far, almost 20 agencies have closed their websites except for displaying one paragraph each of an open letter to clients that runs across their home pages, from one agency's site to the next (famous.be). Agencies including JWT, Ogilvy, BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann, and localshops such as Happiness, Famous, Tagora, Boondoogle, 7beaufort andKunstmaan are participating.
The letter begins:
"Dear visitor, As you can see, we have replaced our regular website with this letter. It's going to stay up one week to express our discontent. Allow us to explain..." A link at the bottom of the screen says "Continue reading at" and links to the next agency's site and an explanation of the charter, why it exists, and how it is being violated.
"Because of the [economic] crisis, advertisers were getting aggressive and not following the rules, and it only works if everyone sticks to the charter," said Luc De Leersnyder, CEO of the ACC, Belgium's association of communication companies, which masterminded the strike. "I wrote a letter to members [saying] if you're called into a pitch and know there are six or seven other guys and that you'll spend 80,000 euros on the pitch, you have a better chance at a casino."
Source: Advertising Age
