Advertisers fell chill wind of incentive

Procter & Gamble's decision to alter the way they pay their advertisers is certain to ruffle feathers in the carefully manicured advertising world.

The company, 17th on the Fortune 500 list of the world's largest groups, has decided that it will pay advertisers according to the rise in sales on the back of campaigns rather than on a flat fee basis.

The idea sounds so simple and sensible that it is a wonder it took so long to arrive. It has several advantages. In the first place, with fee allied t performance, companies will assess more carefully whether they really need all the publicity they are currently buying. They may be less likely to buy the hard-sell from the agencies.

More importantly, advertising agencies will have far greater incentive to ensure they get the campaign right. After all, failure will cost them dearly. Of course, those companies in trouble may find that they have to pay a higher percentage of increased turnover for advertising if those advertisers feel the work involved in turning around the company's fortunes is that much tougher.

One thing for sure. We may finally lose some of those more obtuse campaigns for Guinness and others which seem to have become more common in recent years. Art for art's sake in advertising will become a thing of the past.