Advertising tenders in the Czech Republic will be governed by a memorandum supported by nearly 100 directors and productions from January.
Signed in June, the Memorandum on Fair Tender Terms for the selection of directors and productions for the production of advertising spots, which originated from an initiative of the Audiovisual Producers Association (APA), will come into force on 1 January 2025. As of early December 2024, 98 advertising productions and directors on the Czech market have signed it.
The Czech Memorandum summarizes 11 rules of fair tendering, the most important ones being: maximum of three directors enter the tender, project budget is known when the tender is awarded, director and production have less than one working day to create the treatment, only finished and client-approved scripts are awarded, the tender is awarded transparently - all inquired productions have the same information and know the names of all approached directors, part of the process is the so-called "transparency". The pitch fee (the amount the client pays for the treatment and budget proposal), the exception is the so-called single-bid (treatment by only one director). For the full text, see the downloadable document below.
Respect for the new rules has brought four new members from the advertising production industry into the APA this year, an increase of more than 20 percent in the last year. "There were eighteen purely advertising productions dealing with the local market in the APA at the beginning of this year, in recent years no more than one advertising production per year has joined the APA, the entry of four new members, namely Old & Rich Production, Flux Films, WeAre productions and Advocado Films, shows the need to unite in our view of awarding fair tenders," says APA advertising section manager Eva Dvorak Peréz.
At the same time, the Society of Advertising Directors (SRR - www.sdruzenireziseru.cz), which was formed this June, has been pushing for the cultivation of the advertising environment, the establishment of fair and transparent principles that express respect for the work done, the improvement of the quality of the bids delivered and the improvement of the entire tendering process on both sides.
"From January 2025, the long-awaited pitch fee will finally come into effect. Personally, I have long not participated in tenders with more than three directors, as I consider this to be devaluing and disrespectful to our work. Similarly, from January onwards I will only participate in tenders that respect fair tendering conditions. It makes absolute sense not only for the director but for all parties involved," says Roman Valent, advertising director.
Owners and managing directors of advertising productions also insist on the necessity of tendering according to fair rules. Pavel Picek of Armada Films points to the legitimacy of the new procedures. Given the escalating demands leading to the production of even 30+ page treatments by directors and other creatives involved in the process, I consider the evaluation of this work to be perfectly legitimate. A major effect of the pitch fee is a more responsible approach by the commissioning bodies to how many entities they commission to develop the treatment." The same opinion is shared by Klára Králíčková from Stink Films: "A fair tender helps to improve our working environment and relationships, which is very important for me and for Stink. That's why we will only enter tenders that respect these rules."
The recommendations for Fair Tender were first introduced in the Czech Republic by the Association of Communication Agencies (AKA) in 2015, and were joined by the APA in 2021. The AKA now expresses its full support for the new pitch reform related to paid tenders. "The use of pitch fees in the creative communications industry is an element of 'best practice' and has many positive impacts on the effectiveness and sustainability of creative and creative work," said AKA executive director Katerina Hrubesova. This development goes hand in hand with the actions of the Commercial Film Producer of Europe (CFPE).
Source: mediaguru.cz
