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ADVERTISING

The pitch is one of
the most complex
and disruptive
aspects of ad
agency life. Industry
veteran Rod Curtis
takes a jaundiced
look at the process
and suggests how it
might be changed.

Improve the
agency pitch
process: Stop
pitching!

THE ROLLER-COASTER LIFE OF is not your concern. Until you become Maybe you work for a holding company
advertising agencies is never a client – and then it is your concern agency group and you have a Pitch Budget
more exaggerated than when because you will worry that your agency and really, we all know about those sort of
‘The Pitch’ is on. Firstly, you celebrate is chasing business and not doing budgets … use it or lose it.
because you got on the (long or short) your work.
list in the first place. The troops are The inevitable result of all this is that the
fired up. Every utterance by the client I’ve lost count of the number of times industry seems to understand that when
and/or their consultant, the media and I’ve had to explain to incredulous new an agency loses business, people follow.
pub gossip is examined in minutiae. business clients that we don’t actually Does it stand to reason, therefore, that
have people sitting around waiting for when you win business, you put people
Then you have the guys in the agency their pitch opportunity to walk in the on? The answer, of course, is all about
who aren’t working on The Pitch and door. Perhaps the agency then relies on revenue. I’ve even known agencies who
have to keep the rest of the business freelancers to do The Pitch. Or, worse have hired some of the team from the
humming along when resources are still, the freelancers do the work of your losing agency to work on the same piece
being allocated to The Pitch. Of course, existing clients while the full-time team of business at the new agency. Go figure!
if you are the potential new client, this is working on The Pitch.
OK … back to The Pitch.

36 strategicmarketing August–September 2016