From Lose Friends Radio comes this ‘Believe it or not’ segment Number 21, called ‘Ad agency pulls strings’. You can read the transcript below, or listen to the original broadcast by clicking on the green play button:
Jonar_Nader_21_BION_Ad_agency_pulls_strings.mp3
Believe it or not, according to Jonar Nader, a court in Stockholm has ruled that an advertising agency has the right to force a client to run an ad campaign, despite the client’s resistance.
A furniture manufacturer commissioned a leading ad agency to develop a $2.8 million dollar advertising campaign. It was alleged that after the executives had signed-off on the campaign, they changed their minds and instructed the agency to pull the plug on the campaign.
The agency took the matter to court. The main argument hinged on “emotional investment”.
Creative Director Mr Petrykah said that his creative team had invested far too much, emotional and intellectual energy. He said that if the client did not run the ads, they will not only sue for lost opportunity and lost revenue but, much more importantly, they will seek an undisclosed sum for the cost of emotional investment.
The judge in the county court ordered the client to run the ads saying that cancelling them is a breach of contract.
While the emotional investment issue was not dealt with in much detail, the judge argued that ad agencies showcase their expertise via the client’s briefs. This means that a cancelled campaign would deprive an agency of the chance to promote its wares to the wider business community, and this represents missed opportunities to attract other high profile accounts.
Believe it… or not.
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