Advertisers With Agencies or Versus Agencies....

At eLink, we believe in working with the client, not against them or ignoring their input. We ask our clients to trust us, and we in turn trust them. When that trust and rapport is not established, the whole relationship is doomed. Case in point, UPS....

Citing frustration with the client, WPP's JWT has pulled out of contention of shipping giant UPS' $200 million-plus global advertising review, according to executives familiar with the matter. Left as finalists are WPP sibling shops Ogilvy and Y&R, and Havas' EuroRSCG.

"UPS is a big business with a very big problem to tackle," said JWT Chairman CEO Bob Jeffrey in an internal e-mail. "They need to treat us or any agency as a partner and it doesn't seem that is in their culture. We've invested significant time and energy in pitching this business so we are not taking this decision lightly."

Representatives for JWT did not immediately return calls. UPS declined to comment on "the details of the process, or about where the shortlist stands."

But JWT's withdrawal comes as a decision on UPS' new global agency of record has been delayed for several weeks -- a consequence, some people familiar with the pitch say, of procurement being heavily involved in the process. UPS' domestic incumbent, Interpublic Group of Cos.' Martin Agency, initially said it would defend the account when it went into review this spring, but later pulled out of the pitch. Whatever the outcome of the pitch, managed by AAR Partners in London, UPS will part ways with Martin and its global incumbents, McCann Erickson, Universal McCann and MRM as of early 2010.

UPS spent nearly $140 million on domestic measured media according to TNS Media Intelligence, but its outlay globally is thought to be more than $200 million.