According to Brand Republic, Publicis has walked away from a client because the company wanted to penalize the agency if it didn’t meet campaign objectives.

Having been burnt myself for missing objectives (though in my case it was because the client moved the goalposts!) I can sympathize to a degree with Publicis. There are so many variables in a client’s business that to blame a failure on one aspect of the communications mix and then exact a financial penalty from the agency is, I beleive, unfair.

However, the actual points that Publicis is objecting to seem, well, odd.

[Publicis] departed the arrangement, upon learning that [the client] intended to penalise the agencies by twice the media spend, if the necessary media timing schedule and space objectives were not met.

To me, the media timing schedule and space objectives are pretty straightforward outputs. There’s no hint that the client is trying to make the agency responsible for business results, just for doing their job properly.

[The client] was also seeking the same penalty provision if its telephone number and address were misspelled in the advertising campaign.

“We felt this was not a fair position,” said [Publicis]

Not fair to demand that your advertising agency correctly copies your telephone number and address? Give me a break! That’s basic quality control. Any agency that objects to being asked to guarantee the quality of its work and meet its required deliverables has no business pitching for clients.

At IndoPacific Edelman we have a very rigorous quality control system based around client surveys. One of the many areas we ask clients to rate out performance is delivering on commitments – and may God have mercy on your soul if you get marked down on that one! Clients have a right to quality work. End of story.