Is the pitching process broken?

Speak to most agency bosses and there is always a familiar gripe—pitching. Over the years the pitching merry-go-round has often spun relentlessly, and in 2021 even more feverishly than ever.

During the pandemic there was a slight pause on pitching as marketing budgets were curtailed and the focus on survival grew.

Once lockdowns began to ease and businesses returned to relative normality, companies began reviewing their suppliers and a substantial number of creative, media and other reviews came to market, including prominent global ones like Mercedes.

Although pitching has become synonymous with new business, success and failure in the advertising industry, is the current process fit for purpose?

Not so, accordinging to VCCP international chief executive and vice-chairman Julian Douglas, who has made it his mission to tackle the pitching as president of the IPA. 

There is also IPA and ISBA's Pitch Positive Pledge that attempts to drive better and more sustainable pitch processes.

At the heart of the issue lie agency staff burnout and some brands using pitching as a blunt instrument to drive down cost to a level that isn't sustainable or conducive to high quality work. 

A high-profile agency leader recently told Campaign, in confidence, they had invested a lot of time and resources in a lengthy pitch process and had been told verbally that they had won only for the client to come back a few days later and ask for a further discount to match what a rival agency had suddenly offered. That agency leader declined, realising the business would effectively lose money in properly servicing the account, while having a negative impact on staff.

Others have previously complained about being given unrealistic time frames to prepare, leading to late nights and burnt-out staff—a point recently made by Campaign UK editor Maisie McCabe. Being overworked is a common problem that leads to talent leaving the industry altogether.

Advertisers and intermediaries often hold the counter view that agencies do not push back enough and have created an environment where they know at least one agency will be willing to accept a new account irrespective of how profitable it may be.

Campaign UK asked a selection of intermediaries, agency leaders and others whether they believe the pitching process is broken, and why. 

Charlie Carpenter, CEO, Creativebrief

Concerningly, yes. It’s not working in its current form—the first step is to acknowledge that.

One of the biggest issues is the continued commoditisation of creativity driven by the pitch. If agencies are expected (and prepared) to give away their most valuable asset for free during pitches, then brands will never pay properly for it. And we’re all living through the painful knock-on impact of that on the wider industry right now.

This year there must be an emphasis shift on utilising the pitch for both parties to get to grips with the challenges together, rather than an expectation for answers and solutions. There is also a huge opportunity to further harness the role that tech can play, not simply in streamlining the pitch but in kicking it into touch for good.

What is worrying, though, is how endemic the pitch has become. The next generation of marketers needs to step up in this regard and shoulder responsibility for real change.

Rebecca Nunneley, lead consultant, AAR

Pitching isn’t the enemy. Unintentionally, badly behaved clients are. 

Any agency selection process is an insurance policy. Clients need reassurance their choice of agency partner is the right one. Sometimes the right solution is a pitch, and sometimes it’s a one-off project to trial a new relationship. The appropriate selection process should be decided on a case-by-case basis, but always needs to be commensurate with the size of the prize.

These ill-informed clients don’t sign up to pitch codes of conduct, and they don’t know to ask intermediaries for help. So how do you stop them? Say "no" to their pitch.

Will they be able to find another agency to pitch? Sadly, yes.

Agencies are the only ones with the power to stop this cycle. Push back on clients with unrealistic expectations. If these clients say "no", walk away.

Larissa Vince, CEO, TBWA London

I feel like I’ve answered this question so many times. And, if we’ve spent years asking ourselves whether pitching is broken, then the answer has got to be "yes", it’s broken. The reality is that no agency has enough spare capacity to pitch for every project without seriously overworking its people. That’s just not acceptable, or sustainable.

Don’t get me wrong, I adore pitching. At its best, it’s fun, inspiring, and can lead to some properly innovative ideas. At its worst, it’s an exhausting waste of time and money – we can all cite exa​​mples where we’ve “won”, and the client has cancelled the work, or the scope is way smaller than we’d originally been told. Often the best intentions from clients – to offer lots of meetings and contact throughout a process – can be counter-productive and end up creating unnecessary work for agency teams that isn’t matched by the size of the eventual prize.

So this is a brilliant initiative from ISBA and the IPA. If both clients and agencies can agree on some terms of engagement, some material change and a shared agenda to create a more sustainable model, then we are all going to end up winning.

Sam Drake, managing partner, Goodstuff

Yes. Clients, agencies, and intermediaries can be accused of resorting to the same, old ways when pitching. Agencies go in for any client; clients ask to see everything from agencies; and intermediaries work through the same old play book. All parties need more focus. Agencies must better protect their people and be strict with their own selection criteria. Clients should be more single-minded around what they want to see, and more tailored processes should be shaped around the priorities of the client.  

I look back on a pitch where the client was single-minded. They wanted to see the agencies' strategic capabilities. A 24-hour process was put in place where we had clarity around the resource required and the time it took. Things like pricing and team were important, but they were of secondary importance to the process. That allowed us to focus on the areas that really mattered.

I believe new processes represent an exciting opportunity for the intermediaries especially. To harness their expertise and find ways to help agencies and clients will be invaluable. I would start by increasing the feedback and transparency a client can provide to agencies throughout the process. To provide performance benchmarks across competing agencies would allow those at the top and bottom of the pile to make informed decisions around their continued participation. When people are an agency's most valuable asset, it would be a big step forward in protecting their time and wellbeing.

Tom Lewis, former finance director at the IPA

The solution to adland’s pitching issue is for agencies to undertake a massive upskilling of their commercial capabilities in pricing, selling and negotiation. Faced with client-side professional buyers, agencies need to make professional selling a core discipline. Not rely on pledges.

Higher prices achieved at lower cost (higher revenues-per-head) will lead to stronger balance sheets, allowing agencies to walk away from undesirable potential business without shedding talent.

An agency is defined by the clients it serves; bad clients drive out good talent.

My research in 2017 showed that 16% of agencies “rarely or never” walk away from commercially unattractive business.

Gil Huber, managing partner, Oystercatchers

The simple truth of pitching is that clients will always need to judge and select their best partner, and this means there will always be some form of competition to allow for the biggest decision of all—whether to stick or twist. Buried within this reality is a truth that is often hard to swallow: that there are more losers than winners at the end of the process which, when you’re on the losing side and despite all your effort and hard work, can be hard to take. 

There’s a responsibility for those who run pitches to make sure everyone knows the expectations and what’s required of them so they can fully commit before a process kicks off, and make sure during a pitch the roadmap and commitments are stuck to. Most importantly, any process that works must make sure all those involved and the contribution they bring are considered and respected.

Andrew Lowdon, director of agency services, ISBA

No, the pitch process isn’t broken. At its simplest it’s about taking an initial longlist down to a shortlist, then picking the most suitable. The variable is not the process but the application and approach. Pitching appears to have become increasing mechanical and process driven.  

Questions need to be asked of advertisers, agencies and the intermediaries, something that is happening within the Pitch Positive Pledge initiative. 

Are late nights always necessary? Is every pitch necessary? Could more time be provided? Should agencies decline more often? These, and many more valid questions we will be asking over the next few months. 

Wellbeing has to be positioned as central to the success of a pitch, not a win at all cost, or what can I save, but a positive experience for all, even those that don’t secure the account. For those, there will be another more suitable account to win.