Selling Meteors To Dinosaurs
What Advertising Agencies Spend for Awards
In all, there were 9,795 entries for the ad awards, at a total cost to the agencies of $3,507,860. The average cost of an entry was $358. The database does not account for the interactive or design entries to the One Show, just the advertising entries. Last year the One Show had 26,000 entries from 60 countries. Based on the average price for an entry, the One Show received about $10 million in entry fees, though the organization said the figure was far lower.
“The erroneous e-mail was an unfortunate mistake made by a junior member of our staff,” Mary Warlick, CEO of the One Club, told Ad Age. “The e-mail is not a current database and does not include accurate information.” Ms. Warlick further noted that the One Club is a nonprofit organization. “Any of the agencies that enter the One Club [awards show] realize that their entry fees support the industry.”
Hungriest for medals
BBDO seems to be by far the hungriest for medals. The network’s Brazilian office, Almap BBDO, had the most submissions according to the document, with 156. The second-most entries? That’d be another BBDO office, BBDO, New York, with 146 submissions.
Thanks, Russell.
The future is bright. But the present is apocalyptic
Chicken Little, don your hardhat. Nudged by recession, doom has arrived.
APA’s Stephen Best on Omnicom’s “Pass The Buck” Fiasco
I received the following from Stephen Best, APA National CEO on March 21, 2009.
APA on Omnicom statement…“our policy has not changed”
The last week has seen ever-increasing concern and anger in the advertising community concerning a change in the way the Omnicom Group and it’s subsidiaries conduct business between Omnicom subsidiaries and suppliers. Advertising Photographers of America (APA) reached out for comment from the Omnicom Group about the crises. With the Omnicom Group being the world’s largest advertising holding company, a change in terms and conditions affects the advertising community on so many levels. The policy of concern is called Sequential Liability. Sequential Liability simply means that the agency only pays the suppliers after it has been paid.
Quoted from The Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) published guidelines dealing with this trend:
“Certain agencies have inserted a Sequential Liability clause in their contracts. Others have added a side letter to be signed by the production company. Still other agency contracts do not overtly refer to Sequential Liability as being in effect, but do refer to the agency “acting as agent for” (the advertiser), which suggests the same thing.
If the agency is requesting the recognitions of a “principal-agent” relationship, then the client (principal) should not be released from the obligation of payment until total payment is made to the production company. It should be clarified that even if the client pays the agency, the client remains liable if the agent defaults in fulfilling the payment obligation.
Sequential Liability means that the agency as agent for its principal, the advertiser, is liable for payment to the production company only if the advertiser has paid the agency; otherwise the advertiser is directly responsible for the payment.”
On Friday, March 20, 2009, at 11:47 AM, APA spoke with Pat Sloan, Omnicom Director of Public Relations, to express the concerns of APA and others to the opposition of this policy. APA members are not able to finance major advertising projects and these terms and conditions are not acceptable. Director Sloan’s statement is that there has been no change to their policy on this matter.
Sequential Liability has been policy in the industry for many years. The reality is that advertising agencies, many are Omnicom’s subsidiaries, have provided advances and credit to production companies and photographers to begin awarded projects with substantial expense. “Business as usual” must continue was stated to Director Sloan. APA members, independent photographers and small business owners, are not in a position to finance commercial projects of possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars.
APA business practices have long promoted the inclusion of “statements of intent” to receive 50% to 100% of expenses before the start of a job. It is imperative that this practice continues without removal of advances by clients. Photographers should also include that the photographer owns the copyright and any license agreement must be paid before the release of images.
As creators of intellectual property, photographers hold the copyright on their images. It is imperative that registration of images be immediately submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright law and licensing agreements with your clients provide you strong legal protection. APA recommends legal action only as a last resort but registration is needed to recover statutory damages and legal fees.
We must stand together and confront these terms and conditions because they are not in the best interest of photographers and their community of support. If only one accepts them, it will cascade and the role of advertising photographer will change to one of being a financial institution or bank for clients. We must not go down that heavily liable road.
The Omnicom Director of PR did promise to recommend a meeting to discuss these matters. It is APA’s hope that a meeting will be arranged and discussions will continue to a successful resolution.
As previously stated, BE CAUTIOUS and don’t be afraid to walk away. We must stand together.
Stephen Best
APA National CEO
Friday Roundup- Quotes From The Last Couple Weeks
In their book, How not to Write a novel, Newman and Mittelmark say that there are lots of books on how to write a novel, but none on how not to write a novel. With their blessed sarcasm, they say “…if reading Stephen King on writing really did the trick, we would all by now be writing engrossing vernacular novels that got on the bestseller lists.” Which isn’t the case, so Newman and Mittelmark decided to provide the service of offering observations on how not to write a novel.
It’s the same with photography. There are loads of books on how to photograph. They will tell you how to use long exposures, how to be creative using fancy things like multiple exposures (double the exposure and double the meaning), how large format will really bring out the detail, and so on and so on. In other words, the simple functional How to… books of photography pretty much cover the heady world of art photography from top to bottomus.
It’s simple stuff, but simple is good, especially in photography, which is basically a monkey art.
[from a new series on Colin’s blog called How Not To Photograph, each post is great]
via Colin Pantall’s blog.
————–
“If the old model is broken, what will work in its place?” To which the answer is: Nothing. Nothing will work. There is no general model for newspapers to replace the one the internet just broke.
That is what real revolutions are like. The old stuff gets broken faster than the new stuff is put in its place.
via Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable « Clay Shirky.
————–
the most a portrait photographer can hope for is to make a portrait that reflects where the sitter is with the photographer.
Steve Pyke on Conscientious
————–
one of the goals behind developing Google’s Chrome browser is to “make the web as fast as turning the page in a magazine.” That is still one advantage paper has over the Web: zero load times.
Marissa Mayer is the vice president of search products and user experience at Google
Marissa Mayer: …you’ll be able to say give Google an image and say find other images like this or find me images of a monkey, those types of things.
Charlie Rose: When will it happen?
Marissa Mayer: … I think the vision will probably happen in more than a 10-year timeframe, maybe 15. Those are of course guesses just off the top of my head…
via TechCrunch.
————–
Once the economy revives, however, a panel of Wall Streeters predicted it will be up, up and away for M&A. [Media and Advertising]
“All companies are tightening their belts … they are sitting on a lot of cash. So at one point M&A will come back,” said Jonathan Miller, co-founder of investment fund Velocity Interactive Group and a former chairman of AOL.
via Media biz in coin catch – Entertainment News, Business News, Media – Variety.
Annie Joins Orchard/Getty For Limited Deal
It appears Annie is getting her money situation under control and has inked a very limited deal (here) to partner with Getty for what I can only assume are extremely lucrative assignments (is there any other reason to partner with Getty?). I have it on good authority that her representation and relationships at Art + Commerce and Contact Press Images remain unchanged. Thirty two years at Contact and over twenty five at A+C is not something you just sweep under the rug people.
The Magazine Isn’t Dying
It’s not that magazines are dying; it’s that magazines that were created solely for advertising or market-share purposes are. New magazine titles often fail from a combination of bad timing, bad thinking, and a bad choice of brands to extend. Put simply, there are too many mediocre magazines (as anyone who gazes at the newsstand at Barnes and Nobles would conclude).
via The Big Money.
Omnicom Group’s Bad Terms For Photographers And Producers
So, it appears that Omnicom Group doesn’t want to be responsible for paying vendors if the client hasn’t paid them. It certainly seems to be the trend these days where citizens are held responsible for corporations that can’t pay their bills but an advertising agency eliminating their traditional role as financier for advertising campaigns maybe signals an impending overhaul of the way business is conducted. It seems like some kind of insurance may be required to pull off a big budget shoot in the future.
Here’s the media alert ASMP sent out:
Omnicom Passes the Buck
It has been brought to the attention of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) that the Omnicom Group, the world’s largest advertising agency holding company, has changed its terms and conditions in an effort to limit their agency liability and in so doing transfer that liability to independent photographers and producers. Basically, by disclosing their agency status and for whom they are acting, the advertising agency is only liable to the extent that their client has specifically paid them for any amounts payable to you. Additionally, ASMP has been informed that reps are being told that there will no longer be any advances on assignments.
These new policies are most probably the result of the market and governmental pressures experienced by major corporate clients such as GM who in their effort to avoid bankruptcy are now prioritizing their financial obligations and will make payment according to those priorities. In other words, some suppliers will be waiting significantly longer to be paid depending upon the client’s priorities. That being the case, agencies do not want to be left on the hook for reimbursement of monies expended on behalf of their clients, especially where the fear of bankruptcy exists.
These terms and conditions are simply not in the best interests of photographers, producers or clients. This action, clearly taken in anticipation of increasingly difficult financial conditions is a unilateral effort to shift the burden onto those who are least prepared to bear it. Should an independent photographer of moderate means be the banker for a Fortune 100 company? By eliminating their customary role as intermediate financier, agencies are removing value from the value-added chain, and that will ultimately lead to an overall dampening effect on commerce.
Meanwhile, there is no incentive for the agencies to make photographer friendly changes to their terms and conditions as long as photographers are willing to accept the current terms. Notice of these changes should be included in your blogs and discussed on related lists and social networking sites. The issue needs to become viral and requires significant support from key photographers in order to gain traction and effect change. If it is business as usual for the agencies, then nothing will be accomplished.
ASMP would recommend that photographers include in their paperwork a statement making it clear that there will be no grant of copyright license until all related assignment invoices are paid in full. Images should be registered with the Copyright Office immediately upon completion of the shoot and prior to first publication and/or possible infringement so that in the event that legal action – a last resort – is needed, recovery of statutory damages and court costs will be possible.
In addition, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) recommends the following:
“If an agency’s internal policy insists upon these payment terms (sequential liability), the production company should:
a) Make sure the advertiser (“client”) also signs this agreement. If it is a rider, the terms of payment and the full contract price should be added to the rider.
b) Be provided with the advertiser billing and contact information.
c) Copy the advertiser on all invoices.
d) Notify the advertiser of payment due as soon as terms of the contract (payment dates) are not met by the agency.”
As a possible course of action, since the agencies are shifting liability to their corporate clients, perhaps photographers should consider approaching the clients directly for advances and or other payments prior to the beginning of the assignment.
Ultimately, this is a case of the supplier beware!
Eugene Mopsik
Executive Director, ASMP
mopsik@asmp.org
Where It All Went Wrong At Arena
…holding on to sales in a crammed market was hard work – hence the easy answer. The nipples. Just a few at first, in interviews with compliant celebrities, then an avalanche of areolae: lingerie shopping features, dirty calenders, free pornographic playing cards, illustrated erotic fiction collections.
It wasn’t just sexist, it was stupid – joining the younger lads’ titles in a suicide charge into grubby oblivion, to be munched up by the new weekly grot-mags Nuts and Zoo – and, of course, by the simple fact that exposed breasts are quite easy to find for free on the internet.
National Magazine Awards- Photography Nominees
The nominees for the National Magazine Awards were just announced (here). There are 3 categories for photography and never any surprises (National Geographic has won the most for photography – 7 times).
PHOTOGRAPHY: This category recognizes excellence in magazine photography. The award honors the effectiveness of photography, photojournalism and photo illustration in enhancing a magazines unique mission and personality.
Bon Appétit; GQ; National Geographic; T, The New York Times Style Magazine; W
PHOTOJOURNALISM: This category recognizes the informative photographic documentation of an event or subject in real-time.
Harper’s Magazine; National Geographic; The New York Times Magazine (2 nominations); Time
PHOTO PORTFOLIO: This category honors creative photography and photo illustration (including portraiture or specially produced layouts on fashion, food, decorating, travel, design, the arts, etc.).
Bon Appétit; GQ; Gourmet; The New Yorker; W
Utah Sticks It To All Their Photographers
As if the 3.2 beer isn’t enough of a deterrent to photographers living and working in Utah now the state is trying to collect from photographers, who they feel don’t do a very good job following their tax law. The timing of this is unbelievably absurd.
Here’s a couple of nuggets from the FAQ’s of the state of Utah’s self audit of the business of photography (here):
Q: Isn’t photography a service? Why should sales tax be collected on a service?
A: The object of photography is to provide a customer with a photographic image, the sale of which is taxable whether delivered as tangible personal property or as a digital image.
Q: I sell licenses or rights to my photographic images, not the images themselves. If there’s no print, isn’t it nontaxable?
A: No. The sale of “stock photography,” the licensing for either permanent or limited use of a photographic image, is subject to sales tax, even if electronically transferred as a digital image
More pain after the jump.
Spineless Rodale Pulls The Plug On Best Life
Honestly Rodale it’s not like you fought the good fight or anything. You saw some trouble on the horizon and quickly pulled out a gun and shot yourself in the head.
From the media kit: “Best Life teaches successful men the art of balance. Luxurious yet packed with service, Best Life guides its reader through the many demands of his life—teaching him to manage his finances, nurture his family, care for his health, protect his environment, and still find time to pursue his passions.”
More like: “We created this magazine for advertisers. We don’t give a crap about the staff, contributors or readers. We put all that stuff between the covers to keep the ads from touching each other.”
Look, I get it. These are corporations. The bottom line is the bottom line. It’s just that some of these magazines are starting to look like wall street ponzi schemes.
Mert & Marcus Shoot
This semi-entertaining little video should elicit plenty of groans as Ashton Kutcher (Nikon spokesperson photographers love to hate) shoots the “behind the scenes” sausage making at a fragrance shoot with his wife Demi and photo duo Mert & Marcus (here).
The Three Song Rule
I found this explanation of the three song rule for live music photographers interesting and if you read the rest of the interview you’ll see how he’s recently got out of it. Photo editor Nicole Radja interviews Chicago music photographer Paul Natkin on her blog called“In Studio On Location.”
Nicole: Another story I wanted to get out of you, was about our favorite three song rule. (Photographers are only allowed to photograph bands for the first three songs of a live show.) I know you don’t subscribe to that. I know you have a story of where this thing came from.
Paul: It started in the ’80’s with bands in New York, especially Springsteen. When a band played in New York, especially places like the Garden, they gave out tons of photo passes. At least half to paparazzi guys. Those people don’t know how to photograph, their only option is to put a flash on a camera. A lot of people didn’t even know how to change film, they knew they only had 36 shots. They were just doing it for the excitement of doing it.
Bruce would go up on stage, and there would be 50 photographers, all shooting flashes in his face. I don’t blame him, he walked off stage one night and said, we have to do something about this. Somebody said, why not just let them shoot the first fifteen minutes? Somebody figured out at a normal rock show, a song is about five minutes. Somebody said, let’s just let them shoot the first three songs. So it started with him and people in that era. It was also that MTV started around that time, and everybody wanted to look perfect, the way they looked in their videos.
The Challenges In Photography
People make way too much out of the digital versus film. The challenges in photography—focus, crop, shutter, aperture, and of course the biggest ones of all, the ones that really matter: what you actually point the camera at, and with what intelligence you use it… are all still there, completely unchanged.
Q&A with Paul Graham, PDN.
Milton Glaser- Art is work
What you see very frequently in peoples professional lives and perhaps in their emotional life as well is they lose interest in the 3rd act, you sort of get tired, and indifferent and sometimes defensive and you kind of lose your capacity for astonishment and that’s a great loss because the world is a very astonishing place.
Gallery Will Exhibit Your Work If You Pay Them
Received an interesting email from a photographer (pasted it below for you to see) where a gallery in Montreal will exhibit your work if you pay them a fee: $2500 for a solo show and $150 per image for a group show. It looks like they just send out this email with all the details clearly explained hoping to snare a couple photographers. They also include all their bank transfer information so you can wire them the money.
I decided to ask a photographer I know who exhibits 4-5 times a year and has a solo show every other year how the whole gallery opening and exhibiting works.
How often do you get an email solicitation to exhibit your work?
I would guess I receive about 3 -5 email invitations a week to various and sundry art-related things and only about 5 over the course of my life have led to anything worth while. It’s always something enticing and they always find me on the internet and it’s almost always bogus. The thing to do is to assume that it’s spam, then research it without downloading or clicking on anything in the email. But if a gallery is really interested in your work, they will call you, on the phone, or send you an email that states specifically what they saw, where and why they like it.
How does it usually work?
The gallery industry in the U.S. and Europe (to the extent of my experience there allows me to state such a thing) has very similar standards, not unlike the magazine world: they vary from place to place, and you get more or less depending on who you are, but there’s a bar that’s pretty even. For gallery show practice it is this: the artist makes and frames (or doesn’t frame) the work, documents and provides documentation to the gallery for promotional purposes, and then the gallery sells the art, and the sales are a split commission 50/50. There should also be a contract signed at the beginning of any relationship.
In all the shows I’ve had, most of the costs that I’ve been asked to share with galleries involve advertising. It’s not uncommon to split the cost of printing the show card, or for buying space in magazines like Artforum, Art News, etc… or to buy an ad in a magazine that targets painting if you’re a painter, or sculpture, etc.. But it’s always split. The artist is never responsible for the entire cost unless he/she chooses to do so, and then the gallery should be concerned that the page is designed correctly.
Some galleries make you split the commission of the frame cost, even if you’ve paid for them in full. Personally, I don’t go for that. It’s my opinion that framing is a raw cost and the work can be sold unframed for the normal commission split. So there are minor ways that galleries work out the money problems of having shows.
Galleries are simply stores. They sell art as opposed to groceries, so it just feels like a bigger deal than it is. You love your dealer like you love the produce guy who knows you like avocados and calls you or sets aside the best ones for when you come in. Maybe that’s not the best analogy but one’s relationship with one’s gallerist should be happy and uncomplicated.
Email from the gallery after the jump.
JPG Magazine Profit And Loss
If you’ve never seen an income statement for a magazine it’s a very educational document to check out. It just so happens that JPG Magazine’s P&L was published recently over on Gawker/Valleywag (here) and I have it embedded here for you to see. They are claiming that in part, the demise of the magazine was contributed to by CEO Mitch Fox and his $500,000 a year salary, the expensive salespeople he hired, launching a travel title called everywhere and preparing a fashion magazine. If that’s true, it’s simply run of the mill magazine making hubris where people assume something that works at one level can be scaled to the next. Maybe this is also the end of an era where a powerful sales staff with serious marketing dollars can bring in more advertising than great content and loyal readers on its own.
Back to the income statement. In May 08 here are the numbers:
The income:
$40,000 in advertising with online and print being nearly equal.
$19,000 in subscriptions
$50,000 in newsstand sales
The Expenses:
$23,000 paid in contributor fees ($100 a photo for the photographers)
$104,000 for paper and printing
$23,000 for subscription postage and newsstand shipping
$5,000 for website hosting
$10,000 in salaries for the circulation staff
$55,000 in salaries for the sales staff
$47,000 for the website staff
$58,000 for the magazine editorial staff
$18,000 for the marketing staff
$12,000 for marketing expense
$78,000 for executive salaries
$32,000 in general operating expenses
$17,000 for rent
For a grand total of -$375,000 in net income. Giant sucking hole.
You can obviously see why magazine making is a rich person’s game because $125,000 just to print and deliver the thing is a serious bill to pay every month.
Media Post is reporting that the magazine has been bought (here). I wonder if they can find any fat to trim. Apparently Mitch Fox is stepping down.
jpgmagnetincome – Get more Business Documents
Thanks, Joerg.