Stations give copyright group, Parliament the silent treatment
Radio stations used the sound of silence last week to fight imposed, rather than negotiated, royalty payments for Polish music.
About 100 stations around the country took part in a three-day, self-imposed blackout of Polish music.
The aim was to force the Author's Association (ZAiKS), which executes copyright royalties on behalf of authors and artists, to bargain with broadcasters on royalty fee levels. But it was also meant to jolt parliamentarians who are currently working on draft copyright legislation that would legally enshrine ZAiKS' ability to impose royalty rates.
"There is no partnership (or) relations between broadcasters and ZAiKS, which according to us should exist," said Krzysztof Kouyoumdjian, a spokesman for Radio Zet, which took part in the protest and is one of the nation's largest private stations.
So far, ZAiKS has refused to bargain and under the draft copyright law introduced in the Sejm in September it wouldn't have to.
"Under this bill, ZAiKS might be relieved from the duty of consulting rates with" broadcasters, Kouyoumdjian said. He added that this could especially hurt small stations that would be stuck with the rates imposed, while larger stations may decide to move some production abroad to avoid ZAiKS's new legal mandate.
The bill is currently in the hands of the Sejm's Culture Committee, although Kouyoumdjian said broadcasters have yet to be consulted. To get their case heard, stations resorted to last week's blackout, called simply "Three days without Polish music." The protest was organized by the Convention of Commercial Radio Stations (KKSR), which has 70 members around the country. The stations hoped this would spur ZAiKS to action, even though similar efforts failed to do so in the past.
Last year, stations held a similar protest with more than 120 broadcasters taking part in a one-day blackout. "We did it because organizations of authors and producers wouldn't negotiate the rates with us at all," Kouyoumdjian said. The action brought one group, ZPAV, an association of audio-video producers, to the bargaining table, Kouyoumdjian said. "ZAiKS, however, didn't react at all," he added.
But ZAiKS countered that radio stations had nothing to complain about. While Polish stations pay 5% of annual revenue for copyright royalties, Polish artists don't make out as well as their foreign counterparts, said Witold Kolodziejski, director of ZAiKS. "These are drastic differences that have to be eliminated," he added.
Pitch winner
After a nearly two-month review process, Danone Polska said last month that it had awarded its media account to Mediacom, which was competing against four other agencies for the business. The much sought-after account is worth about zl. 40 million-zl. 50 million ($9.5 million-$11.9 million), said Robert Schnurr, general director of Danone Polska.
Other contenders for the account included Initiative Media and MediaEdge, the media arm of Young & Rubicam, which had previously held the Danone account.
Schnurr said Danone decided to go with Mediacom because of the agency's strategic thinking and purchasing capacity. The majority of the company's media spending will be for television, although Schnurr declined to outline Danone's specific media plans for 2000.
Tomasz Englert, managing director of Mediacom, declined to comment on the victory. But he did look to quash any industry sniping that may occur because his wife, Malgosia Englert, is Danone's media manager.
The decision to go with Mediacom was made at a higher level within Danone, Englert said. "She was not responsible for any decision regarding the bid," he added.
Grabbing clients
Media house newcomer Universal McCann has also had a streak of good luck in winning new business. In November, the company grabbed the Lego account from rival media house HMS Carat, with expected revenue reaching $500,000 in 2000, said Greg Paine, Universal's managing director.
Another big haul for the agency in November was German firm Hochland. The company had previously divided media and creative work between Grey and McCann. Universal McCann will now handle the entire account. Media spending for Hochland is expected to exceed $5 million.
In addition, the McCann group won the full-service account for pharmaceutical company Polpharma. Paine was reluctant to give a value for the Polpharma account, saying only that "it's a sizeable account."
Out of the field
PPD Marketing Services, owned by leading U.K. field-marketing company CPM International, will withdraw from the market here by the end of the year.
The company is handing over its Polish clients to Galicja Group, a local holding group for marketing services companies. As part of the handover, Galicja and CPM signed an affiliation agreement.
CPM, which has operations throughout Europe, has decided to focus expansion plans on other continents, which resulted in the pullback from Poland, the company said.
"The decision (of withdrawing from the Polish market) is strictly strategic," said Grzegorz Mierzwinski, country manager for PPD Marketing Services. "It is related to investments, which are being realized internationally (by CPM International)."
At the same time, however, PPD Marketing Services hasn't become such a huge operation that the parent company could not afford to drop it. Revenue plunged by 50% this year to zl. 10 million ($2.38 million).
But PPD's demise is Galicja's gain.
"The affiliation is very important for us. We expect to gain access to know-how, which is widely developed in CPM International," said Jerzy Motz, president of Galicja Group and general manager of Marketing House, one of Galicja's subsidiaries. "And we expect that it will be transformed in training for our employees, and we're counting on cooperation with companies served by CPM International."
Galicja Group consists of four companies: Dialog Galicja, Marketing House, Call Center Poland and Headlines. However, only two of these entities will be involved with the CPM contract. Dialog Galicja, which specializes in below-the-line services, will take over PPD's promotion-related projects. Marketing House will deal with its sales, field marketing, merchandising, door-to-door services, mailing and databases.
Marketing House was set up in December 1998 after departments were carved out of Dialog Galicja and Call Center Poland.
with Chris Rivituso
and Justyna Wrobel
