Editorial: Agencies play role in ad devaluation.(Viewpoint)(DuPont's online auction)(Brief Article)

Advertising Age, April, 2003

DuPont's online auction for its global account is the latest in a series of procurement-driven initiatives by major marketers that appear to place undue emphasis on the price of advertising services rather than recognizing the differences among competing shops' ideas. Before agencies start cursing ``clients'' for such behavior, however, they should consider the role some of their shops have played in this commoditization of advertising.

While public ownership has had benefits for many large agencies-providing finance for geographical and practice expansion-it has also put shareholder value and stock price front and center, with the attendant necessity to show constant revenue growth. One result of this single-minded focus on getting bigger is the need to win...

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