Does Doing Good Do Good? How Pro Bono Work May Benefit Advertising Agencies

David S. Waller

Journal of Advertising Research

Vol. 50, No. 4, 2010

Does Doing Good Do Good? How Pro Bono Work May Benefit Advertising Agencies

David S. Waller

University of Technology, Sydney

INTRODUCTION

The volume of industry articles in trade publications and the number of prizes awarded for such work strongly suggests that

more advertising agencies have become interested in pro bono assignments (Lister, 2008; Rappaport, 2008; Motloung, 2009).

Further, a number of advertising agency organizations have reported their pro bono activities in their annual reports, listing the

nonprofit organizations they have done work for and identifying the cost of such work (Waller and Lanis, 2009). These

organizations have placed a significant amount of effort in this kind of “social investment.” Agency holding company Publicis

Groupe was involved in developing more than 300 pro bono campaigns in 2008—work that represented a value of $52 million

in paid-media equivalence (Publicis Groupe, 2009); WPP Group’s “social investment” activities in 2008—including pro bono

work, donations to charities and employee volunteering—represented an investment of £14.6 million being £10.3 million based

on the fees the benefiting organizations would have paid for the work and £4.3 million in donations (WPP, 2009).

Pro bono work on the part of advertising agencies appears to be growing as an important part of their corporate social

responsibility (CSR) activities, but there also are aspects that seem to be more for corporate social benefit—a situation

wherein the agency can benefit from the nonprofit relationship. In fact, a pro bono client can help an agency a number of ways,

including staff relations, creativity, and status (Pratt, 2003; Lister, 2008; Rappoport, 2008; Motloung, 2009). Yet, though there

has been interest in the industry press worldwide, including Advertising Age, The Wall Street Journal, and Marketing Week,

there has been little discussion of this from academia (Henley, 2001; Waller, Cusick, Matheson, and Miller, 2001; Waller and

Lanis, 2009).

This study draws on a review of industry literature using a grounded-theory approach (Strauss and Corbin, 1994) to discover

what issues practitioners discuss when it comes to an agency’s pro bono activities. Overall, this study aims to observe topical

issues in the area of pro bono work in the advertising industry and hopes to promote future discourse in this area.

It is intended that this work will encourage dialogue between practitioners and academics and the use of industry literature as

a source for grounded-theory development to expand the body of knowledge. The article specifically will perform as follows:

Title: Does Doing Good Do Good? How Pro Bono Work May Benefit Advertising Agencies

Author(s): David S. Waller

Source: Journal of Advertising Research

Issue: Vol. 50, No. 4, 2010

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l Discuss the various types of pro bono work offered by advertising agencies

l Observe some of the advantages and disadvantages for the agency

l Analyze international industry press reports to suggest some possible guidelines to assist in choosing pro bono clients.

From the industry literature, it appears that even though an agency may want to be seen as a good citizen by helping charities

and community groups, there are also definite business reasons for doing this work, such as providing a creative opportunity,

motivating staff, gaining exposure, increasing profile and prestige, and attracting paying clients. Therefore, the reasons for

doing pro bono work may not be as altruistic as in other areas, such as the legal, medical, accounting, or educational

industries.

BACKGROUND

CSR and a Pro Bono Definition

Many organizations in various industries have embraced the concept of CSR and developed community-assistance programs

to “give back” to the community and assist in enhancing their corporate image and reputation. Some CSR-activity examples

include pro bono services, community partnerships, volunteering, charitable donations, workplace giving programs, and

community-service work (Waller and Lanis, 2009).

Although companies such as McDonald’s and industries such as the legal, medical, accounting, and educational fraternity

have been acknowledged for their CSR programs, the work undertaken by advertising agencies often is known only to the

beneficiaries and those within (or close to) the advertising industry. Although WPP Group reported £14.6 million of “social

investment” worldwide (WPP, 2009), few actually knew about the work.

The term pro bono comes from the Latin phrase “pro bono publico,“ which means “for the public good.” In the legal and

business context, it generally means the provision of services on a free (or significantly reduced) fee basis (National Pro-Bono

Resource Centre [NPBRC], 2004). There is no generally accepted definition of pro bono, as definitions may differ depending

on the situation. In the context of the legal environment, a definition adopted by the Law Council of Australia identifies pro bono

work as situations wherein (Australian Pro bono Manual, 2009):

(1) A lawyer, without fee or without expectation of a fee or at a reduced fee, advises and/or represents a client in cases

where: (i) a client has no other access to the courts and the legal system; and/or (ii) the client’s case raises a wider issue of

public interest; or

(2) The lawyer is involved in free community legal education and/or law reform; or

(3) The lawyer is involved in the giving of free legal advice and/or representation to charitable and community organisations.

In this definition, services are provided for free (or at a reduced basis) to people unable to afford the full cost of legal services

without financial hardship, or for nonprofit organizations assisting disadvantaged or marginalized people, or for public

interest/education matters.

According to the NPBRC, an organization that supports pro bono legal services, “When a firm develops a corporate social

responsibility or community assistance program, it is vital that pro bono legal services be at the heart of the program” (NPBRC,

2009). By this definition, therefore, when an advertising firm undertakes CSR activities, it is implied that pro bono work should

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be included.

Despite the presence of formal definitions in other fields and in other markets, there has been little research on this type of pro

bono work, although it appears fairly common among some agencies (Pratt, 2003; Lister, 2008). This article proposes simple

definition for pro bono practices in the advertising-agency industry:

The provision of creative, production, and/or media placement services by agencies to community or nonprofit organizations

at a reduced or no fee.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

As CSR activities are embraced by more organizations, there are a number of theoretical frameworks to help explain this

phenomenon, including political economy, legitimacy, and stakeholder theories (Farook and Lanis, 2005; Waller and Lanis,

2009). The political-economy perspective views the organization as existing in a system wherein the interplay of power is

determined by broader social, political, economic, and institutional factors (such as government, law, and property rights) that

consequently contribute to the extent of dialogue between different actors, groups, and organizations in society (Farook and

Lanis, 2005; Gray, Kouhy, and Lavers, 1995). As there are no legal imperatives to undertake and report pro bono activities,

political economy is not a relevant framework.

Legitimacy and stakeholder theories are both based on the notion that there exists an implicit “social contract” between the

organization and society, the terms of which are derived from the expectations of a number of groups in society (Deegan,

2002; Farook and Lanis, 2005). Common to both approaches is the view that organizations seek legitimization from those

various reference groups within society that have unequal power and influence over the organization (Farook and Lanis,

2005).

One way that an organization can gain legitimacy is by conducting its operations according to a socially responsible manner,

as determined by its reference groups, and subsequently discharging its obligation by disclosing the nature of its social

responsibility activities (Campbell, 2000; Farache, Perks, and Berry, 2009). The greater the power and influence of any one or

all of these groups, the more the organization will be willing to make its activities legitimate (Farook and Lanis, 2005).

Stakeholder theory says that it is important for an organization to relate favorably with the stakeholders in which it is located

(Freeman, 1984). Stakeholders for a firm can include shareholders, the general public, suppliers, employees, and customers

and can play an integral role in the running of the business (Murphy et al., 2005). Therefore, an organization has

responsibilities to its various stakeholders and should be socially responsible in its business dealings, such as eliminating or

minimizing any harmful effects on society and maximizing its long-term effect to the community in which it does business (Mohr,

Webb, and Harris, 2001; Dean, 2004).

By undertaking CSR activities, including pro bono work, and reporting them in company reports and other corporate

communication channels, the organization wants to prove to stakeholders that it is socially and morally accountable for its

actions (Gray et al., 1995). As pro bono activities can be used by organizations to gain legitimacy and relate favorably with

stakeholders, these frameworks can assist in the understanding of why firms do pro bono work.

ACADEMIC LITERATURE

To date, though there is a wealth of discussion on CSR and corporate governance activities and issues (Agrawal and Chadha,

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2005; Waller and Lanis, 2009) there appears to be little discussion specifically on pro bono activities from academia. In 2001,

in the Journal of Non-profit & Public Sector Marketing, T. K. Henley identified various marketing communications methods for

nonprofit organizations and suggested that local ad agencies might be willing to take on a project pro bono. The advice given

to nonprofits for working as a pro bono client for an advertising agency was: find a connection; set objectives and guidelines;

make a timeline; let the creative person be creative; and say, “Thank you.”

Other studies have also presented advice to nonprofits when entering into partnerships (Earle, 2005) or given examples of

PSA campaigns and tested their effectiveness (Wolburg, 2001; Fishbein et al., 2002; Lancaster and Lancaster, 2002; Fuhrel-

Forbis, Nadorff, and Snyder, 2009).

For a national campaign, however, Henley recommended that the Ad Council could be contacted. The Ad Council

(www.adcouncil.org) is the advertising industry’s “pro bono arm” that “marshals volunteer talent from the advertising and

communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and non-profit communities to deliver

critical messages to the American public” (Ad Council, 2010) The Ad Council, in fact, manages around 40 public service

announcement campaigns each year on behalf of nonprofit organizations and government agencies worth millions of dollars,

and has done so since 1942 (Conlon 2002; Dessart, 2009).

Observing from an agency perspective, a 2001 survey of advertising agency executives sought to determine the activities

advertising agencies use to attract new business (Waller et al., 2001). From a list of potential activities, pro bono work in the

form of “charitable sponsorships” was not perceived as important for gaining new clients. And, although “personal contact with

top management” was perceived to be the most effective activity for new-client generation, other activities perceived to be

effective were “publicity on recent successful campaigns” and “winning industry awards”—both of which can be linked to

successful pro bono campaigns (Lister, 2008).

An analysis of CSR activities at the top six advertising-agency holding companies found that four of the six organizations

presented examples of their pro bono campaigns in their annual report (Waller and Lanis, 2009). Finally, Waller (2010)

undertook a content analysis of the annual reports of WPP Group 1999–2008 to discover the amount of “social

investment” (including pro bono activities) reported over a 10-year period and discovered that the amount given by WPP in pro

bono work is much larger than what it gives in donations. Furthermore, those pro bono services-offerings are influenced by

market conditions, busy workloads due to regular clients, and the global financial climate.

There is a lack of academic research on advertising-agency CSR activity that can be worth millions of dollars in production

and media costs, assist in raising funds or awareness for the client, and generate publicity for an agency. This is particularly

noticeable when pro bono activities have been a topic of discussion in industry literature (Pratt, 2003; Lister, 2008). Gaps in

the literature exist in discovering the advantages and disadvantages for advertising agencies of doing pro bono work and the

attitudes of practitioners towards such activities. Therefore, this study will add to the literature by analyzing discussion of pro

bono activities by advertising agencies in the industry literature.

METHODOLOGY

To assist in observing what is happening from an industry perspective, this study utilizes a grounded-theory approach based

on the advertising industry literature. Grounded theory is a qualitative research method that enables the researcher to observe

an area of study and allows the “relevance” to emerge from the data rather than beginning with a specific theory and then

proving it (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Strauss and Corbin, 1994, 1998).

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The aim, therefore, is to build—not test—theory (Pace, 2004). Further, one study holds, “theory derived from data is more

likely to resemble the ‘reality’ than is theory derived by putting together a series of concepts based on experience or solely

through speculation” (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). The application of grounded theory has been increasing as a form of

research methodology in exploring new areas and developing concepts from data about a phenomenon (Carson and Coviello,

1996; Goulding, 2005).

Grounded theory is an ideal methodology to explore issues related to pro bono activities by advertising agencies, which has

been a topic of discussion in practitioner literature.

For this study, online searches were carried out in January 2010 on several databases, including ABI/INFORM (Proquest),

Academic Search Premier/EBSCO, Warc, Google, and Web sites for such industry magazines as Advertising Age and

Marketing Week. The searches used the words pro bono, corporate social responsibility, CSR, advertising, and advertising

agency. The searches identified a number of relevant articles that contained comments and views from various advertising

practitioners. The content of these articles was read, and the main issues were categorized during the actual research to

justify the findings in this study, thereby developing the results from the “ground up.”

From the industry literature, there appear to be a number of advantages in doing pro bono work that go beyond the moral duty

of doing something good for the community. There are also some disadvantages and extraordinary issues raised by

practitioners. The discussion of the results will begin with an observation of the types of pro bono work offered by agencies.

Types of Pro Bono Work

There are a number of types of pro bono work that agencies undertake. This can first depend on whether the pro bono client

is seen as a regular account or whether the agency is doing ad hoc work for a client or a few pro bono clients depending on

the situation or availability of staff. Some pro bono services—paying for outsourced creative or production work, for instance—

may be managed “in house” by the participating agency. Other specific types of pro bono programs undertaken by a firm

include staff volunteering and specialist services (i.e., donating production facilities or airtime by media).

Some agencies treat a pro bono client the same as a paying client. Dan Johns, managing director of media agency Ikon, was

discussing its pro bono partnership with the Salvos Stores and said that Ikon treats charity clients like any other client and

resources them appropriately: “When we‘re working for the Salvos Stores, we don‘t work with a big charity headline in our

minds,” he explained, “it’s just like any other client and the financial relationship bears no importance to the people who are

working on that business day-to-day” (Lister, 2008).

Mike Fenton, president/CEO of the National Advertising Benevolent Society of Canada, observed that service varies

depending on the agency:

Some agencies will treat it as a regular account; they‘ll put an account team and creative team on it. But there are others

who will provide pro bono services ‘where they’re able to,’ if you know what I mean. They’ll provide a certain level of support,

not the same level as they would a regular paying client. (Pratt, 2003)

Rob Pyne, national strategy director at media company OMD, added, “We are putting a reasonable amount of resource to it,

it’s never going to get as much as a Telstra [a major client] by any means, but it’s not something we just do for two hours and

then disappear, rather it’s an ongoing relationship” (Lister, 2008).

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Although he said there is no “glory” for media agencies in this type of noncommercial work, an economic downturn would not

affect the amount of pro bono work that OMD traditionally has provided. “We have committed to help ASCA [Advocates for

Survivors of Child Abuse],” he explained. “We do put a lot of resources behind it, but it’s still not something that takes up an

unreasonable amount of time. So, I’d like to think that if the economic climate got worse, it wouldn’t make any difference to

what we can do pro bono.”

In fact, when an economy is “soft,” the number of pro bono clients may increase as agencies try to use the pro bono work to

gain paying clients. Moreover, such engagements keeping staff busy can forestall layoffs (White, 2002; Anon, 2009a; Madden,

2009; Wallman and Wax, 2009; Wehrum, 2009), and this includes work by the Ad Council (Elliott, 2009). Although during an

economic recession when agencies are loosing clients and cutting staff, pro bono work may also be reduced (Jack, 2009).

Pro Bono Advantages

Civic responsibility generally is regarded as the main reason for doing some kind of pro bono work in the legal, medical,

accounting, educational, or advertising industries. When people and/or charitable organizations need help, professionals can

use their skills for altruistic reasons and the public good. This driver fits into the trend toward CSR and “the triple bottom

line” (Waller and Lanis, 2009) whereby the accounting reporting framework is expanded to include the organization’s financial,

environmental, and social performance.

The desire to do pro bono work due to a feeling of civic responsibility can be expressed by an entire agency or an individual

employee. According to Anthony Taaffe, associate creative director at Extreme Group,

I like doing pro bono work. … it appeals [to] my altruistic side, the part of me that thinks I am actually using my talents to do

something good, something a little noble, at least in my insular world. Using my communication skills to create awareness,

solicit action or raise funds can he enormously satisfying. (Taaffe, 2007)

Laurence Klinger, senior VP/chief creative officer, Lapiz Chicago, added, “Agencies feel good when, for a change, they can

use their skills to really help other people and the planet, rather than just helping the superrich get even richer. It makes your

job that more meaningful” (Anon, 2007).

And Vicky Oates, marketing director, McCann Erickson, simply said that pro bono work is “morally, a good thing to do” (Jack,

2009).

As a pro bono campaign is created for free (or at a reduced cost), the agency has a creative opportunity to be more

inventive than some more conservative paying clients would be willing to risk. Some agencies, therefore, see pro bono work

as a means to assist in professional development and the opportunity to contribute something worthwhile to the community.

Part of the emphasis is an integral part of much pro bono work: Because budgets often are limited, agencies need to be more

creative if their ideas are to get noticed (Steinberg, 2005). In short, it is a chance for advertising agencies to flex their “creative

muscles” (Taaffe, 2007).

Said Extreme Group’s Anthony Taaffe,

Pro bono work usually comes with the promise of a great creative opportunity. A pro bono job can provide the type of

challenge that may be lacking in your everyday work…. You never ignore any client’s needs and objectives, but with pro

bono work, it is totally appropriate to insist on creative latitude as a prerequisite. (Taaffe, 2007)

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Simone Bartley, chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi, indicated a degree of creative freedom with pro bono clients, when he

added, “There is a certain amount of freedom associated with working on these pro bono businesses, because they don’t

have the strict rules your everyday clients do and it’s appealing from that perspective” (Lister, 2008)

For example, for its pro bono client RSPCA, The Campaign Palace created a campaign that highlighted the link between

domestic violence, criminal behavior, and animal abuse. This campaign was seen as a big creative departure from the

RSPCA’s traditional marketing strategy of images of cute cats and dogs (Lister, 2008). And it was a major effort: a comparable

effort by a paying client would have cost $1.5 million (Lister).

Said Peter Coish, president of Lowe RMP, “When you’re donating your services to an organization, there’s an awareness of

that and, consequently, it gives us a little more latitude to explore creatively” (Pratt, 2003).

Some agencies have indicated that having pro bono clients can be a “valuable tool for motivating staff” (Anon, 2009b) by

using the campaign to enhance skills, gain confidence, increase morale, and generally refresh them. This type of client can

provide opportunities for staff to have a more varied workplace and practice skills. Bart Cleveland, partner/creative director at

Albuquerque, NM, agency McKee Wallwork Cleveland, said, “My staff works on pro bono to build better portfolios for

themselves” (Cleveland, 2006).

The work also can show the staff that the agency cares about the community and not just its big paying clients. The staff

members, in turn, can experience higher levels of personal satisfaction working for a nonprofit client, which can enhance their

working experience at the agency and possibly assist in better staff retention.

Regarding The Campaign Palace’s campaign for the RSPCA, Lindsey Evans, managing director of The Campaign Palace,

said that every staff member at the agency gave his/her time—including work after business hours and weekends—to work for

free on its campaign for the RSPCA:

It’s important for our staff to be able to give back and use their skills to make a contribution to a charity that wouldn’t

otherwise be able to afford such a campaign. The people who work on the RSPCA (campaign) would do it on their weekends

because that’s how passionate they feel about that work. (Lister, 2008)

According to Bruce Philp, managing partner at Garneau Wurstlin Philp Brand Engineering, in addition to the opportunity it

affords the agency to give something back to the community, he says, engaging in pro bono work serves to refresh staffers.

“The proposition that you’re making to the client is refreshingly clear and unambiguous,” Philip observed. “That’s not always

the case with consumer products” (Pratt, 2003).

Ray Arvizu, president/ceo of Arvizu Advertising & Promotions, Phoenix, indicated that pro bono work was “a good training and

development opportunity for junior associates as well as a way to enhance the image of the agency in the local business

community and the public sector” (Anon, 2007).

A good pro bono campaign can be newsworthy and so can become an opportunity for the agency to get exposure in the

industry community—not to mention the general public—and to showcase its capabilities. Some agencies even will promote

that it is willing to take on new pro bono clients. For example, in the United States, Leo Burnett launched a campaign,

“Packaged Goods,” to find a nonprofit organization that needs a marketing campaign that it would organize. It claimed that this

would help Leo Burnett “to showcase its ad capabilities while also contributing to what it considers its civic

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responsibilities” (Steinberg, 2005).

Lowe RMP’s Peter Coish also indicated that pro bono work was “good for business,” admitting that working on a campaign for

the Daily Bread Food Bank has increased the company’s profile with both trade and consumer newspapers writing about the

campaign, and the agency came out of it “looking good” (Pratt, 2003).

By undertaking creative pro bono campaigns, some agencies see this as an opportunity to increase the profile, image,

reputation, and prestige of the agency and the occasion to produce award-winning work. With pro bono work, an agency’s

visibility within the business community may increase, particularly if the work merits some additional publicity for both the client

and the agency. And that exposure, in turn, can help attract new clients and maintain existing ones. For example, Saatchi’s

2008 “Voices” campaign for the United Nations, which won a Bronze Lion in the direct category at Cannes in 2008, was said

to be “always helpful during new business [P]itches” (Lister, 2008).

As Sharon Zeev Poole, director of PR company Agent 99, noted, “Aside from building staff morale, taking on pro bono work

assists businesses my size [boutique-sized] to establish credibility. So economic downturn or not, it’s very important to our

company, we would just make the time to work on charity clients” (Lister, 2008).

Added Eva Merenyi, managing director of Lowe Lintas GGK Kft, “Agencies are not doing this for the money. Rather, for two

reasons: these issues provide an opportunity for unrestricted creativity; and it’s also true that participation is good PR for the

agency and improves its image” (Csonka, 2002).

Also, it appears that it can look good for an agency to associate with a popular charity or charity celebrity. For example, [Red],

an AIDS charity headed by U2’s Bono, received a lot of industry interest in the United States. According to Stuart Smith, editor

of Marketing Week, “The personality of Bono is what gives the anarchic, apparently hopeless struggle against AIDS a cool,

crusading focus” (Smith, 2006). Similarly, Mark Haslam, from Amnesty International, admits that there will be some prestige if

agencies are associated with Amnesty International, “So we get to pick and choose a little bit” (Pratt, 2003).

Finally, with pro bono work giving the agency a chance to be creative and thereby pick up some exposure and prestige, pro

bono assignments can lead to a major business objective of attracting paying clients (Steinberg, 2005).

According to Brian Howlett, partner at Axmith McIntyre Wicht,

As an owner of an agency, I’m trying to build a business here. You can only build an agency so far on pro bono work. If we

had just a great bunch of pro bono ads that, at the end of the day, doesn’t help us win the non-pro bono business. And if you

visited our Web site and all you saw was a bunch of pro bono work, I don’t think it would look too good. An agency has to use

pro bono to show how it can think at its best and at its most unrestricted, but you don’t want to make a living at it. (Pratt,

2003)

And, in simple point of fact, an agency may profit from the exposure a pro bono assignment gives to charity board members,

many of whom are influential business leaders. In this case, a pro bono client may be an “opportunity to make an impression in

the right circles” (Motloung, 2009).

Pro bono Disadvantages

The industry literature highlighted a number of disadvantages—or, more delicately, issues to be aware of—that are part of the

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pro bono equation.

The management of a charity may not have good organization or marketing skills, which can be a problem for an

agency working on a campaign. And, in fact, the issue of competence has provoked some agencies into asking for “clear rules

of engagement” when dealing with charities (Newland, 2006).

Anthony Taaffe of Extreme Group says,

Don’t think that doing pro bono work is a walk in the park. It takes a lot of hours to produce work for a paying client; it can

take even more to produce work for one who isn’t. The very nature of pro bono often means working with clients who aren’t

as organized and experienced in marketing as what you may be used to. You might need to be extra patient, flexible and,

most likely, add additional time into your schedule. (Taaffe, 2007)

Similarly, from Simone Bartley, at Saatchi & Saatchi:

We have to be careful of how we manage projects like this, because some of the organizations don’t necessarily have the

marketing resources needed and rely quite heavily on an agency, so the work can turn into weeks of discussion and work

that doesn’t really go anywhere. (Lister, 2008)

Nancy Vonk, chief creative officer at Ogilvy & Mather, raised the problem of dealing with pro bono client committees:

With charities, you’re typically dealing with very small groups, not giant corporations. But there is a real slippery slope that

can also come with charities, which is the dreaded committee.

In that case, it can be a nightmare. I think anyone does their best work when there are minimal people involved in decision-

making. If the advertising is approved by a (client) committee, it’s harder to reach consensus and that can be quite painful.

Sometimes, when we establish that there are committees involved, we decline charities. We know it could never be worth

the pain. (Pratt, 2003).

Though having a pro bono client can give the agency a chance to showcase its creative talents, it is important that the agency

achieves the client’s objectives, whether it be issue awareness or fund raising. Observed Mike Fenton of the National

Advertising Benevolent Society of Canada,

There’s a business objective here, and they understand that. That’s critical for us. It’s nice to build awareness, but if we can’t

increase our fundraising, we’ve missed the point. There is a concern for some that pro bono accounts are seen to be great

creative opportunities because they’re given more license and creative teams can do better work that might win awards, but

does it actually fulfill the business mandate that the charity has, which is to raise money? (Pratt, 2003)

Amnesty International’s Mark Haslam adds,

We are very thankful for the work that is done pro bono for us, but we have to ensure that the creative material is based in a

real understanding of who we are and what our ethics and values are. We don’t just take anything that they give us. Creative

folks want to be really free to do whatever they want, but given our mandate, we have to be careful that their need to be free

and creative is balanced by what we need, what our values are, the messages we want to project. (Pratt, 2003)

There can be some jealousy from paying clients if pro bono clients get all the exposure and win all the awards. As Anthony

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Taaffe explained,

So what’s the biggest problem? It’s when paying clients compare the projects you produced for them against your pro bono

work. There is a story that involves a paying client complaining to his agency about why he isn’t getting the same sort of

creative as the award-winning pro bono work the agency produced. After all, it was the same team working on both accounts.

There can be a sense that they are being treated as second best. They are, after all, paying for the same level of thinking

from the exact same people. Yet, here is their agency giving away ideas for free—which is a lot less than they’re paying.

(Taaffe, 2007)

Although there may be any number of altruistic benefits associated with having a pro bono client, an agency may need to

reconsider the client or its pro bono assignment does not provide any benefits—acting as a drain on the staff, not reaching

campaign objectives, and not helping to attract paying clients.

A Skeptical Note

Clearly, not everyone sees that having a pro bono client will result in mutual corporate social benefit. Although the advertising-

industry literature generally seems quite positive toward pro bono work, there were some notes of caution. And the most

negative comment regarding agency pro bono work came from an editor of Australia’s MarketingMag:

Speaking to some agency heads recently (shall name no names), I was interested to hear what the view of work done for free

was in the industry.

This work for charitable organisations and Not-For-Profit (NFP) companies is often seen as a surefire way to push the

envelope and gain awards nominations for ‘worthy’ campaigns, but according to these adland types, agencies rarely get all

warm and fuzzy about the prospect of pro bono work.

In fact, some in agency land appear to actively resent giving away their time for free for causes, and that’s not to even add

the fact that the charities themselves are unlikely to get the top creative minds at the agency working on their case.

When do you think the big agency schedules in the pro bono charity? 4:30 p.m. on a Friday, that’s when.

So perhaps we should just check our admiration at the door when we hear about the next agency donating their time for the

needy. Chances are the charity is getting pretty short shrift, and little real love from adland. (Editor, 2009)

WHICH ORGANIZATION TO CHOOSE?

The advertising-industry literature does offer some brief discussions regarding which organization an agency might choose as

a pro bono client (Pratt, 2003; Hall, 2007; Brownstein, 2008; Lister, 2008; Linden, 2008; Parekh, 2008; Wheaton, 2008). From

the discussions, the following points were raised:

l Worthy causes: Whoever is chosen should be seen as a worthy cause. Some broad-stroke “worthy” areas include

social justice, human rights, animal rights. A marginal charity may also fit into the worthy category.

l Fits the staff’s interest: If an agency’s personnel staff is going to spending time on a pro bono project, it is important the

staff has some kind of a personal affection or interest in the area.

l No political parties or religious groups: Such work can be controversial and divisive for staff. This, of course, may

change if the charity is a paying client but, in those instances, the staff may be given the option not to work on the

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account.

l Do not pitch for pro bono work: If several agencies are pitching a pro bono client, more time and effort may be

expected. Such excesses can lead to unwanted stress that distracts from the effort needed to maintain existing paying

clients.

l Not too many pro bono clients: Many agencies are satisfied with only one pro bono account a year.

From the nonprofit beneficiary side, however, there is a choice on whether to be a pro bono client. In fact, some large not-for-

profit organizations have decided to approach agencies as a paying—rather than a pro bono—client. Said Nick Futcher, brand

manager for Oxfam, “We much prefer to pay agencies. We find that having a proper business relationship helps give you more

control over the work, which tends to mean you receive more applicable ideas” (Williams, 2009).

Similarly, Charlie Rudd, from the agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, has Barnardo’s “Believe in Children” as a paying client, which,

he admitted, helps his agency maintain a professional relationship with the charity: “Barnardo’s pays us because it wants a

guaranteed level of service. It can’t afford to be fobbed off with a junior team, or not taken as seriously on a professional

level” (Williams, 2009).

CONCLUSION

Although there is a relatively small amount of discussion on pro bono work by advertising agencies in the industry literature, it

appears to be an area of growing interest, particularly during difficult economic times (Pratt, 2003; Lister, 2008; Anon, 2009a;

Motloung, 2009; Wehrum, 2009).

Using a grounded-theory approach to examine the articles discussing the pro bono issue, six advantages and five

disadvantages were discovered, as were some possible guidelines to assist in choosing a pro bono client. Agencies must,

therefore, weigh up the pros and cons to decide the best way to integrate pro bono assignments into their client mix.

This study aims to promote discourse in this area, and it is suggested that future research could analyze the attitudes of

agency staff to pro bono accounts and determine the ways in which the client-agency relationship is different from paying

accounts. It also would be important to try to quantify the benefits gained from working for a pro bono client.

With a growing interest in pro bono work by agencies, it is vital to determine whether the time and effort undertaken are

actually worthwhile. Ultimately, all participating parties hope that the benefits from pro bono clients can result in a win-win

situation on all sides.

David S. Waller is a senior lecturer in the school of marketing, University of Technology, Sydney. David has a PhD from The

University of Newcastle. He has more than 20 years’ experience teaching marketing subjects at several universities in

Australia. His research has included projects on marketing communications, advertising agency–client relationships;

controversial advertising; international advertising; marketing ethics; and marketing education. He has published more than 50

refereed journal articles, including Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, European Journal of Marketing,

and Journal of Business Ethics. Eamil: david.waller@uts.edu.au

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