When is an agency pitch, not an agency pitch?

This article is by Darren Woolley, Founder and Global CEO of TrinityP3. With his history as an analytical scientist and artistic issue solver, Darren brings unique insights and learnings to the marketing approach. He is regarded a international thought chief in optimizing marketing efficiency and performance throughout advertising agencies and provider rosters.

Promoting is one particular of the most seen interaction professions. And language is an critical element of conversation. Nonetheless, as an business, the liberal application of language communicates all forms of misconceptions. Now, in advance of you accuse me of becoming a language pedant, I will confess that I nonetheless consider that remuneration and compensation are not rigorous synonyms of each and every other. But what a do disagree with is contacting all tenders, agency assortment procedures and marketplace testimonials a pitch.

In accordance to Collins’ English Dictionary, to make a pitch, or make one’s pitch means to check out and persuade men and women to do or get the object of the pitch. Now, this is where by the argument gets to be nuanced. The conventional speculative inventive method could be categorised as a pitch. With the different agencies establishing strategic and artistic recommendations and pitching them to the consumer.

But the classic Ask for for Proposal (RFP) or RFI or RFT, with the normally-rigid format and considerable list of certain concerns, feels extra like completing an work software for the agency than having an opportunity to pitch. And while these two procedures for picking an advertising and marketing or media company are really common, they are by no implies the only techniques of deciding upon a new agency. Lots of of which are not a marketing possibility at all but are as a substitute a far more targeted and defined way to examination and select the correct company lover.

Let’s look at a couple of these methodologies for picking a new agency and investigate their strengths and limits and see if we can categorise the technique.

1. The resourceful splendor parade (The speculative innovative pitch)

Decide on a several organizations. Give them a imaginative transient. Permit them function on it and arrive again and pitch their recommendations. And the best idea wins. A single of the most prevalent approaches of deciding on an thought. Very good if you are getting an thought. But not so good for getting an agency you are hoping will generate tens, hundreds or even hundreds of great suggestions around the expression. The difficulty is you do not know who, what or how they developed the concept they pitched and if they could do it yet again.

This is the definitive pitch, with all its inherent issues.

2. The Ask for for Proposal (The work software)

A favorite with procurement as it enables a wide-ranging evaluation of quite a few features of the various agencies. But it is limited in this exploration by the thoughts requested and the format in which the businesses can react. So wonderful for compliance but tough when making an attempt to evaluate intangible skills, capabilities, and chemistry. In truth, this favours the companies expert in crafting RFP responses over those skilled at supplying the solutions you truly want.

Basically far more like a job application than a pitch.

3. The Chemistry and Credentials (Present and Tell)

Also recognised as the showcase, this is how quite a few specialist providers and other artistic solutions are decided on. From architects to composers, artists to film directors, and extra. It consists of just reviewing a showcase of the function that has been carried out in the current earlier and meeting with the group to be certain capabilities and chemistry align. This signifies you assess the agency on the function they do for others.

Extra display and explain to, with the company pitching themselves, not their advice.

4. The No Pitch, Pitch

It is progressively widespread to acquire an incumbent company to pitch or tender at the close of a contract to evaluate the current preparations. The problem is the competitive pitch is developed to pick a new agency with only one in 4 incumbents retaining the business. This method is to have the incumbent pitch by yourself. The shortcoming is the prospective deficiency of sector know-how, but this can be quickly accessed via impartial 3rd get-togethers who deliver this provider.

Extra of a business evaluation than a pitch.

5. Strategic / Creative Workshop (The Examination Drive)

Ever more well known, it proficiently usually takes a handful of companies for a examination generate. Choose a dilemma and provide it as a brief so that the marketing team can do the job with every agency on a comprehensive or 50 %-working day workshop. This is far more about the journey than a destination, with the course of action an opportunity for the two client and company to operate with each other openly and transparently. It also signifies, contrary to a pitch, the customer is more possible to see the agency expertise at function, rather than the presentation workforce in action.

This is a check push that is as near to the real thing as you can get.

As you can see, although all of these are casually referred to as pitches, it is only the initially one, the speculative artistic pitch that is actually a pitch, with the collaborating businesses pitching their ideas to earn the enterprise. Nonetheless, they are all labelled as pitches. But all fulfil a distinct need. And some are even utilised in combinations.

The level is somewhat than equating all these processes with pitching, we have to have to start off considering about what the objective of the company assortment course of action is and then use the most effective methodology (or a combination thereof) to achieve the wished-for final result. If the approach is to pick a new agency, then 2, 3 and 5 are the ideal alternative and the variety of which of these would be dependent on the sizing of the account or deal, timing, complexity, and possibility mitigation. If it is simply to find a winning concept, then 1 is the most effective selection. And if you do not want to decide on a new agency, but only require to overview the incumbent, then the least wasteful and most rigorous solution is 4.

It is simply just a subject of allowing for language to advise intent and intent. Rather than lazily labelling almost everything as a pitch.