Ad Age: Omnicom, Publicis subpoenaed In US Department of Justice production investigation
December 17 2016, 6:26 am | | 5 Comments
AdAge in the US reports that the Department of Justice investigation into production practices in the advertising industry is widening, as today Omnicom Group said two of its subsidiaries had been subpoenaed and Publicis Groupe said one of its subsidiaries received one.
“On Dec. 14, 2016, two subsidiaries within Omnicom Group received subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division concerning its ongoing investigation of video production and post-production practices in the advertising industry,” Omincom Group said on its website. “Omnicom’s outside legal counsel has contacted representatives of the Antitrust Division and the company is fully cooperating with the investigation.”
5 Comments
About time
Take em down. Take em down to China Town.
Hopefully this will alert clients to the the possibility that perhaps in-house production services are not in fact about creating savings for clients, but primarily an income stream forced upon local agencies by their holding companies. You do not, no matter how it’s sold, get access to best talent in the industry, and that means directors AND producers, you do not get as nimble a service (ask anyone who’s needed to organise a float for a wardrobe stylist working for an agency) and you most certainly do not get a robust, competitive cost landscape. Generally, in-house production is not best for a client’s business, it’s best for an agency’s.
I would also hope it leads to greater transparency from Agency Producer’s with regards to who production companies are pitching against, and what their chances are of winning the pitch (as sometimes their is no chance).
I would have thought that the US department of Justice had bigger fish to fry. We’re talking about the advertising industry. Not the arms industry currently killing thousands of people in the middle east. No but you’re right, how they produce those bumper ads is pretty important too.
Too many production companies ripped off agencies and their clients for too many years and they kept on getting away with it [and their 20% mark-up] because all the directors worked for them. Now you can work directly with great directors and DOP’s [and yes, wardrobe stylists] and clients don’t have to sit through hours of ‘can we shoot x? – I’ll ask our producer to ask their producer who’ll ask the director who then says that wasn’t on the storyboard so their producer tells our producer to tell our GAD to politely tell our client no, or it’ll cost extra if they find the time” crap. We do in-house productions and production company productions. I know which one’s are easier to manage, cost less and our clients find more pleasurable to be involved in, as opposed to being excluded from. Good production companies deserve every cent they get – even the in-house ones. Get used to it. If you’re good enough, in-house production companies won’t trouble you a bit.