New guidelines for advertising and PR sectors

New procurement guidelines have been launched for advertising and public relations companies tendering for accounts from public bodies.

Entitled Tender and pitch guidelines for the selection of advertising and PRr agencies, the guidelines were launched today by the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) and the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI).

The purpose of the guidelines is to make the tender process more consistent and assist in the streamlining of the tendering process to save both time and resources.

The guidelines are seen as a compliment to existing Government Procurement Guidelines (2003) and EU procurement directives.

At the launch of the guidlines, Mr Hugh Gillanders, chairman of the PRCA said: "While the existing Government guidelines provide a framework for tendering for contracts, they fall short in a number of key areas."

With major PR tenders costing as much as €20,000 to prepare, the PRCA are concerned about a developing trend of consultancies not pitching for public sector business.

"As it currently exists there is an inconsistency across the public sector when it comes to the tendering process for PR and advertising," Mr Gillanders said.

"We want to see greater consistency across the board and these guidelines are designed to help in this process," he added.

Mr Brian Hayes, IAPI President, called the Government's adoption of the guidelines as a major step forward.

"It is our hope that industry as a whole follows the Government lead and adopts the guide as an agency selection bible," he concluded.