The RFP process may not be ideal, but does it have to be a breeding ground for idea infringement? Experts from Deep Focus, Real Branding and Ask.com explain how to cope.
It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But in the advertising game, there is often a fine line between imitating an idea and downright stealing it.
Agencies and creative teams face a unique dilemma throughout the business development/RFP process: they are charged with the task of putting their best foot forward prospectively, generating and presenting big ideas and execution strategies to a potential client, before they have actually been hired to do the work.
For example, when 20th Century Fox's "The Simpsons Movie" was being promoted this past summer, one of the most buzzed-about marketing tactics for the film was the temporary transformation of select 7-Eleven convenience stores into Kwik-E-Marts. FreshWorks, the ad agency for 7-Eleven, made the partnership happen, but was the agency the first to come up with the idea? Ad agency Leo Burnett says no, claiming that the idea was part of a pitch it had made to 20th Century Fox in 2006. After the 7-Eleven promotion was announced, Leo Burnett went public with its claims of idea theft, resulting in professional and consumer responses that ranged from sympathy to cries of sour grapes.
Even more recently, Sony debuted the latest in a series of innovative spots to promote the sharp, high-resolution picture of its Bravia line of HD televisions. The campaign, Sony Bravia Bunnies, conveyed its message with colorful clay bunnies running amok in an urban landscape. But did the spot's producers, Passion Pictures, crib the creative idea from a panoramic by Los Angeles-based artists Kozyndan?
Kozyndan claims that it provided samples of its work to Passion two years before Fallon (Sony's ad agency) hired the production company to create the latest Bravia spot. The similarities are striking. But was this truly a matter of sneaky appropriation or innocent inspiration? Furthermore, did Kozyndan and Leo Burnett do the right thing by taking their gripes to the people? Or should they have sucked it up, chalking the experiences down to a lesson in the pitfalls of the RFP and the necessities of building industry relationships?
The standard proposal process is far from the ideal -- for agencies and clients alike -- and from time to time, you may have the best ideas, but you may not get the job. Every agency can likely tell its own big fish tale about the one that got away. But can these traps be prepared for, or even avoided altogether? Here is what some of our experts learned from their time in the RFP trenches, and some tips to help you stay out of the creative foxhole.