WPP Quietly Withdraws a Document That Suggested Keeping Work in the Family

The guidance memo has been removed, but the questions it raised have not.

WPP Production, the holding company's centralized production arm, has withdrawn an internal document that encouraged staff to steer clients away from the traditional practice of soliciting competitive bids from multiple production companies, Campaign reported this week. The document, which surfaced earlier this month, had asked employees to "actively convince" clients to send all production work to WPP and, when possible, to provide all three bids internally — from different WPP markets or using different creative approaches — rather than involving outside vendors.

The practice of triple bidding, in which three production companies submit competing proposals for a project, has long been standard in the commercial production business. It is meant to ensure that clients receive fair pricing and that independent production companies have a reasonable shot at the work. (Or at least that was the theory.)

According to the original document, WPP Production's goal was to position itself as "the default, trusted partner" and to demonstrate "the overall savings of centralising all work" within the holding company. If a client still insisted on external bids, staff were told to present WPP's proposal first, before briefing outside companies, with "sufficient safeguards."

WPP declined to comment on the document's removal, referring reporters to a previous statement in which a spokesperson said that "any suggestion that WPP Production undermines fair competition is fundamentally wrong." The spokesperson added that the company "respects competitive bidding" and works with independent production companies "always adhering to client contracts and procurement requirements."

Some WPP staff members had reportedly expressed discomfort with the directive, describing themselves as being "forced" to persuade clients without consultation and to abandon relationships with outside partners.

The document is gone. The debate, evidently, is not.

Original story published in campaignlive.com: "WPP Production takes down insourcing guidance | Campaign US"