audits...

if its any help i promise i spend a significant amount of each meeting i do with clients and agencies talking about audits, the difference between paid for and bulk free distribution, avr, quality media, transparency, accountability and strangely itp is the best example of shoddy publishing e.g. arabian business 4%paid for.... i have done this since i arrived 2 years ago and will continue to do so. transparency and accountability will drive quality in media and the avr/brown envelope way of doing things will change slowly. i have no problem telling clients that unless they instruct omd to use certain titles they wont as itp do the big avr deals and rip of clients - and yes most publishing houses do this. i have several large clients auditing their agencies behaviour and why not. leb scum on the one hand and itp scum on the other. love it!

avr

upon visiting an agency recently we asked why we were significantly down yr on yr (it turns out my new boss with whom i am working didnt actually know the volumes and infact we have nothing this year) and out lebanese friend said 'you dont pay me avr, why should i bother?' nice. my new boss buried her head in the sand and nothing was resolved.
two points. one avr is quite openly talked about obviously although many agencies pretend it doesnt exist, and secondly we arent going to change the industry if the avr situation is not addressed or discussed. as anyone who has worked at a decent level in a developed market knows there is avr and avr. you dont have to give over a brown envolope or offer to pay for someones wedding in beirut or delhi but offer incentives on volume or discount. the ft does this so perhaps its fairplay.
footnote - i forced my new boss to go back into the office to address this with my new sales director and he claimed he never said this and refused to discuss it. the hand was stuck back into the sand and nothing is resolved still..........5 months on. i have told the client tho.....and why not. stand on the side of honesty and fact and you cant go wrong right.....i'll be getting my marching orders soon back to rainy blighty. anyway its all good fun. the industry sleeps at the mo so no major stresses...