WPP Production is urging clients to do all of their production work with the holding company—thereby avoiding outsourcing to independent production houses-- and at least one production trade group says WPP’s stand is essentially an assault on “the free market in commercials production.”  

Leaked internal documents from the holding company’s production arm state that "Our goal is to avoid traditional commercial triple bidding by proving the value of a centralized partnership by positioning WPP Production as the default, trusted partner.” 

Triple bidding is the standard urged by trade groups like Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) in the U.S. and the Advertising Producers Association (APA) in the UK. 

The leaked documents suggest a way that WPP can circumvent the commercial bid process: 

“If a client or creative team requires triple bidding to assess different options, we should evaluate if WPP Production can provide all three bids internally from the same or different markets. We can satisfy this need by offering three different production approaches, locations, and director treatments within the same country or within the region—keeping the work entirely within WPP Production.” 

Steve Davies, CEO of the APA, issued a response that in part reads, "This is a serious threat to the free market in commercials production — and to the independent production, editing and post companies within it — but only if clients don't see through it. I think they will.” 
 
“Professionalism means putting clients' interests ahead of your own. WPP has effectively announced it's doing the opposite,” Davies asserted.  
 
The triple bid, he added, is central to the collaborative system between agencies and production companies that enables “great work.” 

WPP Production took issue with the APA’s assessment.  

“Any suggestion that WPP Production misleads clients or undermines fair competition is fundamentally wrong,” the firm responded. “Selectively quoting from a comprehensive document doesn’t fairly reflect what is a completely transparent process. 

“We respect competitive bidding and work with independent production companies, always adhering to client contracts and procurement requirements. We make decisions with clients, helping them find the right solution for each brief and considering WPP capabilities alongside specialist partners.”