The Association of Independent Creative Editors (AICE) believes the proliferation of in-house creative editorial companies at ad agencies is “not good for advertising– it’s not in the best interest of agencies or advertisers,” related AICE national president Richard Gillespie following the organization’s national meeting last month (5/19) in New York, during which this issue was discussed in depth. Gillespie is president/editor at Fast Cuts, Dallas.
The topic is not new, but has become more prominent, prompted by an increasing number of agencies launching creative editorial units and the recent debut of the Association of Agency Creative Editors (AACE), as reported in SHOOT (5/13, p. 1).
“The need for some editorial and production capability is a necessary part of [an agency’s] ability to do business; clients are more sophisticated; they need and want more sophisticated ripomatics and storyboards,” Gilllespie acknowledged. “The move to creative finishing is where it starts to move into a place where it’s not good for the advertisers.
“[Independent] editorial companies are constantly in competition for jobs, and so they are constantly improving their facilities, [focusing on their] talent, and always striving to be the best,” he explained. “In-house editing companies are protected from that. They have no competition. For in-house, okay is good enough. That doesn’t work for an AICE company; we have to compete to stay ahead. We think that is a big distinction.”
His second point zoned in on the talent of AICE editors. “AICE editors are very skilled and very talented — We edit the vast majority of the work in the U. S and Canada,” Gillespie said, offering that AICE editors create “efficient advertising [that is] value added.”
“One problem with in-house [editing] is it’s confining,” he commented. “[The editors] are limited to the clients and work that they are doing at that agency. These reels become one dimensional. They will want to get a broader cross-section of work to build their reel and their careers. Also, agencies will have a variety of work to do, including storyboards or ripomatics.”
Lastly, Gillespie related that AICE views agency in-house editing as “an effort to emulate the AICE without the key ingredient–independence.
“We believe the best editing comes from the competitive nature of independence,” he asserted. “In-house editors can’t help but get caught up in [agency] politics. We have a client relationship [with the agency], and that is a big distinction. We can serve the agency in a way that best facilitates the creation of good advertising. Independence is about clear vision and perspective … This gives us the freedom to come up with a great cut.”
When asked about the bidding process when in-house agency units are involved, Gillespie reported that some AICE member companies have been asked to bid against the agency itself; in other instances, the agencies do not take competitive bids. “What is the benefit of this process?,” Gillespie asked. “Are we comparing apples to apples? How are the agencies arriving at their numbers? That is a question; and we don’t have access [to the answer].”