Tourism tender concludes with final five

TOURISM MALAYSIA   PITCH   

Malaysia - The Tourism Malaysia tender saga has come to a close, with the announcement of the successful agencies for the 2011-2013 period.

The five agencies are:

• Naga DDB (ASEAN)
• Smascom & Designs (North & East Asia)
• Sen Media (South Asia, West Asia & Africa)
• M & C Saatchi (Europe, America, Oceania)
• Impact Creations (M) (Domestic & Events)

In a statement released to the press, the government department reiterated its stand that the selection was made through an Open Tender in strict compliance with procurement guidelines and regulations prescribed by the Government.

Agencies were appointed based on their "creative ideas, concepts and strategies which were based on the development in the markets and their trends within the three years".

The five agencies were among the 34 advertising agencies that submitted their applications for the advertising tender bid which closed on 16 August 2010.

The tender process has been the subject of much speculation and scrutiny since it began last year.

Following the high profile withdrawal of incumbent ISC Group last week, allegations of ambiguity with the tender and lack of due process were raised, with the agency submitting documents to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as "proof".

In a sidebar to the affair, a word of wars was sparked between ISC Group founder and CEO, Austen Zecha and 4A's president and Foetus International executive chairman, Datuk Vincent Lee.

Zecha issued a personal statement which took Lee's comments to task in an A+M article which sampled industry views on the tender issue.

In response to Lee's comments, Zecha said that it was "inappropriate" for the 4As President to be making such statements without first understanding how the agency had arrived at their decision.

When contacted concerning the statement released by Zecha, Lee reiterated that his comments were general in nature and were not specific to ISC International.

"I was asked for my views concerning delays in the tender process and whether it had wider implications for the industry, I was not referring to anyone in particular," said Lee.

Lee further stated that as far as the issue between ISC Group and Tourism Malaysia was concerned, the 4As cannot mitigate the situation as it was a matter between the client and the agency. The organisation's charter does not allow for any interference or involvement in the client-agency relationship.

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