The Association, with which the APCP collaborates, continues to advocate for equitable processes in which the economic criteria do not override the creative one.
The Association of Communication Companies (La FEDE) and the Association of Transforming Creativity Agencies (ACT) have expressed their concern about the growing trend in public advertising tenders to prioritize price over the technical and creative quality of proposals. According to the Public Advertising and Communication Tenders Observatory, in the fourth quarter of 2023, 66.7% of the analyzed tenders gave greater weight to the economic criteria than to creativity and strategy.
Furthermore, the report reveals that 91.9% of these tenders required agencies to have a turnover equal to or greater than the estimated budget of the tender, which limits the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises. Likewise, 44.4% of the calls established deadlines of less than three weeks for the presentation of proposals, a time considered insufficient to develop quality campaigns.
In response to this situation, La FEDE launched the #ConcursosJustos platform in January 2025, to which the APCP adhered, aimed at promoting transparency and ethics in selection processes in the advertising field. This initiative seeks to strengthen trust and respect between brands, agencies, and production companies, fostering relationships based on professionalism and good practices. This is a path that the APCP has been working on for years, promoting a healthier and more accessible industry, which focuses on transparency throughout the process of creating and executing a campaign.
The platform offers a guide with key recommendations, which include:
- Limiting participation to a maximum of four agencies to ensure more focused and fair processes.
- Developing clear and concise briefings that facilitate the understanding of the campaign objectives.
- Communicating the real budget from the beginning to align expectations and proposals. In this sense, the budget is established not as a way to limit creativity, but to focus it.
- Remunerating agencies for their effort, regardless of whether they are winners or not.
- Providing constructive feedback to all participants.
La FEDE, the APCP, and other associations in the sector continue working to engage in dialogue with the administrations and reverse this negative trend in future calls, advocating for more equitable processes that value quality and foster fair competition in the advertising sector.
