Blue Marlin in Australia row

Blue Marlin managing director Andrew Eyles has defended the consultancy’s Australian offices, after they were accused of “the unethical practice of free pitching” by Australian Graphic Design Association president David Terrazas.

Australian bases were established by Blue Marlin in November 1998 in Sydney and Melbourne. They have since built up a substantial client list which includes Coca-Cola Schweppes, Mars, Nestle, Kiwi Brands and George Weston Foods, producing an annual turnover of more than £500 000.

But Terrazas says: “One of our key issues is related to free pitching, and the harm it causes our design community in undermining the credibility of earning fee income for intellectual and creative property. These are perhaps our greatest assets.”

Eyles admits free pitching “leads to a spiral of devaluation of the industry,” but claims, “it’s a symptom of an over-subscribed suppliers market. It’s fairly prolific in the UK and the whole industry.”

He says that breaking into a new market requires a variety of measures. “We always encourage clients to articulate and invest in design and pay an under-written fee to pitch. But, as a consultancy in a new market offering a premium service at a premium price, we need to invest a degree of time to recover it at a later stage of development.”