• by Andrew , Sean , Paul DeBraccio , March 22, 2005

As we all know the growth of any industry is based partially on the efficiencies of the sales process. Many industries have moved to the Internet for their entire sales process.

Last week I was sitting at my desk typing as fast as I could to complete a proposal for a leading movie studio. I noticed that I was actually sweating as I typed due to the fact that other requests for proposals (RFPs) were coming in and I was counseling my staff on still more RFPs. Our sales assistants have become experts on inputting Atlas and Mediavisor (as much as anyone can be) and somewhat expert on the myriad forms that we receive from 30 or so different agencies or advertisers.

Oh. I forgot. Each RFP asked for big ideas and the high demand (i.e. short supply) inventory and we have 48 hours to provide it or we "will not be considered for this buy"

Don't get me wrong. We love getting RFPs since we would be out of business if we did not. However with the current state of the industry, we must recreate the Mona Lisa for every one.

If we could create industry standards (like we have for ad units) it would help publishers to provide top-flight programs for our agency partners. The additional time could be used to create innovative programs on publisher sites. I use the word "partners," as we need to continue to streamline the way we do things in order to avoid another mini-implosion like what happened in 2000.

Of course, we do not want to stifle the creativity of agencies and advertisers, and of course I think there should be areas for beyond the banner creative executions. However, we all need to admit that the RFP process with varying "standard" database programs, like those mentioned earlier, and the speed in which new ad technologies are entering the market, all point to the need for a step towards standard RFP practices.

Six or seven years ago, agencies needed to create 15 to 20 different ad units for each plan. The IAB's standard ad units help to squash that process and the increased efficiency significantly increased the growth rate of the industry.

Leonardo da Vinci did a great job on the Mona Lisa  let's not try to create a digital version of it.