Henry Tajer calls ‘bullshit’ on Toby Barbour’s take on the pitch problem, says DAN isn’t ‘the most desperate’ network
Dentsu Aegis Network’s CEO Henry Tajer has hit back at Publicis CEO Toby Barbour’s suggestion that the flawed pitch process is a business cycle reality.
The dispute kicked off on stage during a panel at the Media Federation of Australia’s inaugural MFA EX conference. Barbour responded to an audience question from Initiative’s chief strategy officer, Sam Geer, who said the industry is “only as strong as our weakest link”. If one agency decides to undervalue its product, it impacts the entire market, Geer said.
“So how do we present a united front, from holding group to holding group, and ensure that our product is valued and paid for appropriately in the future?” Geer asked the panel, which featured Barbour, Tajer, Initiative CEO Melissa Fein and Bohemia CEO Brett Dawson.
It’s must be tough for Tajer ..
World at his feet, big global CEO, articles in the FIN, Madison Ave, keynote at Cannes …and then ..
So here he is, back again trying to be controversial, trying to lord it over everyone and impart his wisdom.
He played as big a part in the race to the bottom as anyone. Get the business in at next to nothing and let Cadreon/Mnet etc do the rest. Ask the TV networks what happened once they shared their agency billing with KPMG . No more trading at 120% Henry ! so to start taking about protecting media owner inventory is laughable.
No mention of his response to the question asked my a Carat staffer ?
Very interesting article. Any chance there is video of this conversation?
Hi Wayne,
I believe you can watch the videos here:
https://mediafederation.webcastcloud.tv/
Thanks,
Vivienne – Mumbrella
Sorry but that always has been Dentsu’s way.
Never have I seen a CEO be so disrespectful to their peers fellow board members staff and industry as Henry Tajer in this panel.
MFA should take a hard look at its board members and how they represent us
Never have I seen a CEO be so refreshingly honest to the benefit of everyone in the room, rather than diplomatically protecting the pride of the top dogs.
MFA should be applauded for providing Tajer with an opportunity to accurately represent us and our frustrations.
As noted above – he is clearly struggling with being back in the small pond again.
Ridiculous chest beating and pathetic attention seeking.
Given the continuing client losses it would be interesting to hear what the guys in Japan and UK are thinking about their AU CEO.
Everything that’s wrong with the industry in one place .
Not one meaningful answer between them.
Henry in the video says the lack of women leadership is down to poor decision making. Coming from him that is an understatement given he is the king of the boys club and jobs for mates.
Secondly, his cry out in the above article…I call bullshit. As an ex-staffer at Initiative his direction was to underquote on the pitch, and overcharge on the service. I’m sure “FP”, or “Fixed Pricing” would ring many bells for those who worked under him.
Re women in leadership : I nearly choked when he said that. Talk about a lack of self-awareness!
There are many guilty of failing fundamental maths when dealing with media about who got what in share terms. In fact insert culprit here no one played/plays a straight bat.
…you can only compete on price and delivery or payment terms. Or maybe “social value” – but from someone who does something good for the community.
While media agencies are sitting around blaming each other about payment terms and who’s not playing fair at recess their clients in spades are looking at ways to work differently & without them.
Who was the first person to get rid of media agency service fees? Who decided to pass back media commissions to clients?
The race to the bottom has been very long and now that large global media agencies are working in a very unhealthy economy, all they can do is point fingers at each other.
The Mutiny, The Hallway and The Royals called it out in Mi3 just this week – ‘the independents are growing and winning as global networks are distracted’
At a time when you are up on stage ‘distracted’ pointing the finger at each other they are probably taking your clients.
He is such an [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
The correct answer to the question “how do we present a united front from holding group to holding group to ensure our product is paid for appropriately” is “we don’t because it’s illegal”. But if you’re keen to encourage a bit of expensive attention from the ACCC, then having a discussion on how you respond to competitive tenders is the way to go.
Barbour and Tajer should take it to the boxing ring, proceeds to charity
And on another topic, good to see female representation on panel @ 25% – insert eye roll here
My theory having worked with agencies for years is that there should be a ‘mini’ pitch process and the company has to cover the majority of the costs or a fixed fee.
That should stop the wide net of getting agencies to allocate people for nothing if they don’t win an account but also encourage more effort in a pitch because you are getting paid for it and motivation would be higher.
Just my 2 cents…….
Having worked with Tajer, his comments don’t reflect his private comments, yesterday’s man