ZO chief Ian Perrin pens open letter to rival in bid to end ‘vicious cycle’ of bitterness
The chief executive of ZenithOptimedia has publicly congratulated rival media agency MEC on wrestling Nestlé from its grasp in an attempt to end the “vicious cycle” of bitterness which he said usually accompanies such business losses.
Ian Perrin has sent an open letter to his counterpart, Peter Vogel, admitting the “best team won” and acknowledging how Nestlé ran an “open and ethical process”.
Too often after losing accounts, media agencies behave ungraciously and raise question marks over the ethical behaviour of the winning agency, Perrin said. In some cases, he claimed “people punch each other” – although he didn’t elaborate.
Perrin described the letter as a “somewhat feeble attempt to break this vicious cycle”.
The pitch saw three agencies, incumbent ZO, along with GroupM agencies MEC and Mediacom pitch for the account which included the media strategy, planning and buying for all its brands including Kit Kat, Nescafé, Milo and Maggi. Nestlé yesterday confirmed MEC as the victor.
The letter in full:
An open letter to Peter Vogel, CEO MEC
Hi Pete,
One of my biggest frustrations in our industry is the reaction that many media agencies have towards losing business. They leak stories to the media about how the pitch was won on fake promises, how the winning agency undermined them with the client, and of course how they dropped their pants. Occasionally people punch other people in a bar.
So in a somewhat feeble attempt to break this vicious cycle, I wanted to publically congratulate you on winning Nestlé from us. They have been a passionate, reasonable and committed partner for over a decade, and I am envious that you will be working on their great brands. They ran a fair and ethical process which was not overly onerous in terms of time spent or delivery required. In this case the best team won, so congratulations. You beat us this time, but we have beaten you before, and will strive to do so again.
I genuinely wish you and your team well, and I hope that you are partying hard over what is a fantastic win.
Cheers,
Ian
Steve Jones
It might have meant a lot more if it hadn’t been an open letter, eh?
User ID not verified.
What a legend and how refreshing. Love this and hope that the positive PR spin helps ZO win a new client to compensate.
User ID not verified.
nice
User ID not verified.
Well done, Ian. One of the more honourable acts in a media agency landscape largely devoid of them.
User ID not verified.
nice one Ian!!!
User ID not verified.
How unusual to share a letter like that. It makes it very contrived. A phone call would have been more meaningful followed by a smooth hand over.
I guess the letter can be reused though over the next few months which is efficient.
User ID not verified.
awesome piece of PR to deflect from the fact they just lost a huge piece of business
User ID not verified.
Well done Ian – very gracious with a good balance of congratulations vs “game on”!
User ID not verified.
PR stunt
User ID not verified.
Always far too nice, Pez. Very cool.
User ID not verified.
Wow – who knew there could actually be some level of professional courtesy from the ever-nasty, greedy and cut-throat media buyer land.
User ID not verified.
Like
User ID not verified.
Typical advertising wank to go public like this in an attempt to save their reputation in the marketplace. As others have said, why an open letter? Why not a personal note or a phone call?
User ID not verified.
Such a shame to see the haters being cynical – but really not surprising.
This is what you call leadership. It’s classy.
User ID not verified.
Well said that man
User ID not verified.
What?! There was an inter-agency punch up due to a pitch? Never. Perhaps Tim et al might want to look into this with the same gusto as their scam endeavours – what else is Mumbrella for if not this? But then…….
User ID not verified.
Nice one Pez.
User ID not verified.
Echo the closed letter/phone call suggestions
User ID not verified.
If you have nothing nice to say, best not to say it. Didn’t you mother teach you that?
Nice work Ian. The industry need more of this type leadership.
User ID not verified.
I am on the side of “well done, there should be more of this”, rather than the “closed letter / phone call group” because our industry needs more public collegiality.
Well done Ian. ZO losing a lot recently, but things come and go in cycles, just ask Mediacom, Ikon, UM, etc
User ID not verified.
Thanks for your comments. I agree with the sentiment of those who think a personal letter would have been a better option. I actually sent one to Pete earlier in the week. But with so much negativity in our industry, it felt like an opportunity to make a more positive, public statement, however contrived it may appear.
User ID not verified.
Ian
I dont get the sense this is contrived at all and the fact that you sent a note direct to Peter underlines the fact. IMHO, an act full of integrity and in this industry we dont often hear this, save for in a derisory/ironic manner.
User ID not verified.
I respect Ian in responding to the diatribe.
Having said that, what exactly was the point of the public letter? Am I correct in interpreting it as an attempt to make the industry a better place, creating an example for other agencies?
As a personal letter was sent then the public letter was not intended for Pete but for us in the industry, right?
User ID not verified.
Knowing Ian, I don’t doubt for a minute that this is what it is – a nice gesture from a top bloke. Nice one.
User ID not verified.