If you lead a successful independent agency, that is a leader in your market and has a cooperative spirit of sharing, AMIN Europe membership may be the resource you need to take your agency to the next level.
We are seeking agencies of strong local standing to have a member agencies in each European country. If you are interested in membership, simply send the message to join@amineurope.com. Member applications must be approved by a majority all members of the corporation.
The standarts, which each agency expects from the other members, and seeks to uphold themselves, are as follows:
Structure
Member agencies are independent, entrepreneurial and generally provide a full service. Each agency is established in its national market. Security of solvency is part of the required status.
Member Co-operation
Co-operation can only be successful if members work on a comparable level. Therefore, each agency must be assured that the quality of the service of the other member is always guaranteed and can be controlled regularly. A recomendation from a partner in another country should strenghten and not compromise the status of the home agency.
Reliability of partners
Enquiries from other AMIN Members should be treated like client contacts, i.e. competentely, with care and as quick as possible.
AMIN Europe meetings
We believe very strongly that the strenght of the network is due, in large part, to the commitment by senior leadership within our member agencies. For that reason, attendance by an agency principal at the annual general meeting - AMIN Europe AGM - is mandatory unless excused in advance by the AMIN Europe president.
Most AMIN requests fit into normal agency activities and require very little agency time to complete. Many of our member agencies designate a staff member to serve as AMIN liaison, which allows most assignments to be handled without in-depth involvement from agency principals.
Projects of broader scope and importance would be handled just as they would for an agency client and would be compensated accordingly. The agencies involved would agree, in advance, to any compensation agreements for this kind of work.
When an agency joins AMIN Europe, it becomes the exclusive member for the country designated. No other agency can purport to be an AMIN agency for that country.
However, as a condition of membership, AMIN agencies all agree they will not solicit the clients or personnel of another AMIN agency. If an affiliate's client or employee contacts another AMIN member, that member has two responsibilities:
- In the case of an affiliate's client making contact, senior management of the AMIN agency which represents the client must be notified and made aware of the contact.
- In the case of a staff person making application, the applicant must be advised of the Network's policy prohibiting an interview unless the current employer is notified. Once the applicant has been advised of AMIN's policy, the applicant may withdraw the application. If the applicant does not withdraw the application, the contacted agency must notify senior management of the AMIN agency that currently employs the applicant. Inherent in this process is a commitment on the part of the current employer not to punish the applicant.
Head-to-head competition between two or more AMIN agencies for the same prospective account is permitted under the following conditions:
- If the account is not currently represented by one of the competing AMIN agencies in an agency-of-record relationship.
- If the account has made it clear to the AMIN agency-of-record that it is moving its business elsewhere through an open review process, and the incumbent AMIN agency is not invited to participate in the review. However, if the incumbent AMIN agency grants permission for another AMIN member agency to participate in the review, head-to-head competition is permitted.
On agency promotional mailings, most members restrict themselves to their own marketing area. However, there is no limitation and they may mail into other AMIN territories. In this case they should take care to exclude mailings to other AMIN agencies’ clients. If an AMIN agency is losing an account and is aware of it, they may wish to advise another AMIN member who is qualified. Likewise, if a member hears about an account being available, but is unable to handle it because of a conflict, the member is encouraged to refer the lead to another AMIN agency.
Our members find that the cost of membership is considerably less than the savings the agency realizes through AMIN resources. And that doesn’t even account for the opportunities for shared market and business intelligence that impact the bottom line.
