ICA begins RIP RFP campaign
By Adnews Staff
The Toronto-based Institute of Communication Agencies has begun a promotion called “RIP RFP.” According to the organization, the campaign is intended to encourage agencies to convey their frustrations about request-for-proposals procedures to companies. The effort includes a series of greeting cards containing messages about flaws in an RFP. Agencies can visit a website at <http://www.theica.ca/rip-to-the-rfp> to request that a physical card be sent to the procurement contact on a specific request for proposals.
“As an industry, it's time for us to kill the RFP,” said Scott Knox, president and CEO of the ICA. “They can be destructive for agencies but also costly and ultimately ineffective for clients. They needlessly drain money, creative and time out of agencies while leaving clients with an incomplete picture of working with creative and media providers. A lot of agencies dream of telling clients what they really think of RFP's, but can't without damaging financially important relationships. The RIP RFP cards are our way of stepping in and acting as the bad guy so agencies don't have to burn bridges.”