Together with the association of advertisers UBA, the ACC signed a Code of Conduct in case of a competition. It is a joint guidance note for Advertisers and Agencies describing the best practice in the management of the pitching process.

See: Competition Charter N - See: Competition Charter F

Pitch Toolkit for Agencies

(Based upon the Pitch Process Protocol for Agencies, edited by the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) London, UK .)
Not all clients will be familiar with the ACC/UBA Competition Charter and in any event it is always worth reiterating some of the principles recommended. In addition, in a business environment in which intellectual property (IP) is becoming more and more valuable, it is important both to remind clients of agency rights and to take positive steps to protect agency ideas and material. This protocol recommends certain steps to help you assess the value in pitching for work and protecting your IP rights and your time.

1. Client questionnaire

It is going to be unlikely that a client will want to enter into a formal pre pitch agreement. One way forward might be the polite use of a questionnaire that you can ask the client to complete ? you find a sample of such a questionnaire hereafter.

This raises basic questions and issues that you, as an agency might need to know, in order to evaluate whether or not it is worth making the pitch and how much time and effort should be put into it. The questionnaire also raises the issue of confidentiality and IP rights.

1. What is the reason for this pitch?
2. How many agencies are being invited to this pitch?
3. Is the incumbent agency being invited to pitch?
4. Is there a deadline and available timetable for the process and if so please provide details?
5. Is there any financial contribution available towards the agency's costs of making the pitch?
6. To whom should enquiries be made about your company - we are prepared to sign a confidentiality agreement to ensure your research and trade secrets are protected.
7. Is there an evaluation system for assessing the pitch and is such information available to the agency? If so please indicate what it is.
8. After presentations have been made when will we be informed of the decision? May we ask that all agencies be informed on the same day and before any journalists?
9. If the agency was unsuccessful in securing the business, please provide reasons as to why.

2. Steps to help protect your Intellectual Property / Copyright

The Belgian law provides that copyright will automatically exist in all literary, artistic, musical and dramatic work. Thus copyright will automatically subsist in the designs, drawings and illustrations you present on a pitch. Therefore it is worth considering all means to protect intellectual property. There are also steps that should be taken to assist in proving an infringement should the need arise.

There is no sure fast way of preventing ideas or designs from being used by clients determined to copy them. However most situations arise out of ignorance rather than a deliberate attempt to misappropriate agency work.

Thus the following steps are primarily aimed at deterring clients in the first place from using work without consent by reiterating from the outset that the ideas and materials the agency is presenting are confidential and protected. Ultimately if a dispute arises the following steps may also help satisfy the court that the agency ideas and material in question were original and valuable and that this valuable commodity was misappropriated.

1. Ensure all material submitted is clearly labelled with a copyright sign ©.
2. Date all material produced and keep a record of who produced it and conserve all working drafts. With web based designs and ideas it is useful to keep downloaded versions.
3. Consider asking the client to execute a mutual non-disclosure agreement. This means that neither party may disclose to any other third party or internal marketing department the trade secrets, ideas, designs etc of the other. This is the only means of protecting ideas. It is a mutual agreement so the agency undertakes not to disclose any client information and the use of such an agreement should merely demonstrate the professionalism of the agency.
4. Consider registering the work and ideas with your lawyer(s) or notary. For an example of a registration form click here.