“Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” This provocative quote, often attributed to Pablo Picasso, suggests that all creativity is derivative.
But does that mean it’s acceptable for advertisers to lift ideas from agencies during the pitch process? The controversy over idea theft in advertising is as old as pitching itself.
Pitching or poaching? The fine line between inspiration and imitation
For as long as the pitch process has existed, agencies have accused advertisers of taking their creative concepts without compensation. The scenario is all too familiar: an agency presents its best ideas, loses the pitch, and later sees strikingly similar creative work appear in the winning campaign.
Is this theft – or just creative déjà vu?
I believe outright idea theft is uncommon in the South African market. In the rare instance it does occur, I don’t think it’s deliberate.
Non-intermediated pitches can be chaotic. As clients move from agency to agency, absorbing numerous ideas, confusion can arise, increasing the risk of unintended overlap.
I strongly advocate for professional mediation in the pitch process. Intermediaries help ensure that ideas aren’t lost in translation or worse, unintentionally transferred in translation.
The grey area of idea ownership
Advertisers typically do not request pitches with the intention of stockpiling ideas for later use. Big pitches can bring big excitement – and can also overwhelm. With multiple agencies pitching, marketers may subconsciously retain elements from different presentations without realising their origins.
A problem arises when pitches lack structure – marketers can struggle to remember which agency presented what. Once an agency is selected, advertisers may unintentionally incorporate elements from competing pitches, not as an act of theft but as a consequence of an unstructured selection process.
How to prevent idea theft – or accusations of It
If an agency has ever encountered a case of pitch-inspired déjà vu, it should act as a wake-up call for them to safeguard their intellectual property.
Here’s how:
- Use NDAs and contracts: Lock in legal protection before pitching creative. Common practice should be for all parties—Intermediary, Advertiser and Agency—to sign an NDA that protects not only the IP of ideas but also all confidential information that is shared and discovered during the pitching process.
- Document everything: Keep detailed records of pitched concepts, emails, and timestamps.
- Structure the pitch process: Advertisers should employ intermediaries or structured procurement processes to prevent confusion. Introduce phases to the pitch process starting with a credentials pitch that does not include creative. Only request creative once a final three or four agencies have been selected.
- Follow-up and feedback: Agencies should send post-pitch documentation outlining their contributions and reinforcing ownership. Intermediaries should give detailed feedback to losing agencies, especially when there has been idea overlap; the sooner, the better.
As for whether idea overlap occurs frequently, as shocking as this may seem, it happens more often than you might believe. The ideas are never identical, but they can be very similar.
In my experience as an industry leader in agency search and selection, agencies can reach the same creative solution when client briefs are tight and the scope of work has been clarified in detail.
These safeguards protect agencies’ creativity and keep advertisers from misstepping. The best pitches are those where creativity is respected, originality is rewarded, and both parties walk away with trust intact.
When ideas win, but agencies lose
There are occasions when advertisers love an idea that has been pitched but not the agency that did the pitching. What should be done with this dilemma? The advertiser should negotiate a reasonable offer to purchase the idea.
But in 18 years of running pitches, the IAS has never been requested to purchase an idea from one agency to give to another to execute.
Interestingly, I’ve experienced clients getting excited and asking if two finalist agencies can work together. They love an idea from one agency, but prefer the team from another agency. I give the same answer every time – an emphatic NO!
Johanna McDowell is CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS)The IAS (Independent Agency Search and Selection Company) in association with the AAR Group (UK) was founded in South Africa in 2006. IAS specialises in client/agency relationship management and helping clients find agencies.
