The Good Pitch team spend 5 minutes with Clare Campbell, the Head of Business Development at Beattie McGuinness Bungay.
o    What is the most exciting thing about pitching?

Winning. (And the post-pitch win bar tab).

o    What piece of advice would you give clients who are putting their business up to pitch?

Be really clear about what you’re looking to achieve as a business and from your chosen agency. And be available – the more time you can give to the pitch process, the better the response will be.

o    Tell us about your best / worst pitch moment.

I was on the receiving end of a pitch where an agency decided to demonstrate their flexibility and creativity LITERALLY. They employed a gymnast dressed as an account exec to perform several eye-watering moves on the boardroom table before they started the presentation. It was 8.30am and a total David Brent moment.  I’ve been     afraid of ‘pitch theatre’ ever since.

o    What single thing do you think is most important for clients to realise when pitching?

That the pitch process will never be the best way to see what an agency is really like to work with – its an artificial process by its very nature.

o    What one thing would you like to change about pitching today?

I’d like to see more innovative ways of pitching. Clients, like agencies, vary hugely in their culture and ambitions. It would be great to see more innovative, alternative pitches that reflected the personality and values of that business.

o    Please submit any ideas or experience with alternative pitch processes.

Some of our longest, most-successful client relationships have been chemistry-based pitches. We’re also big fans of the two-week pitch.

What is the most exciting thing about pitching?

Winning. Or even better – derailing the pitch.
What piece of advice would you give clients who are putting their business up to pitch?

Be completely clear about what you seek to achieve and the criteria on which you’ll base your decision.
Tell us about your best / worst pitch moment.

As a fairly junior client I had to pitch to a retail buyer who threw me out of his office – literally, picked up my briefcase and chucked it down the stairs. The following week he signed the deal. Dramatic negotiating tactics haven’t fazed me since.
What single thing do you think is most important for clients to realise when pitching?

Pitching is time-consuming and expensive; there are other ways of finding the best partner.
What one thing would you like to change about pitching today?

The pitch process is an inefficient use of resources; early selection based on chemistry and approach achieves a better result.
Please submit any ideas or experience with alternative pitch processes.

We believe in getting to know our clients off-site – in the bar, the supermarket or whatever environment their brands operate in. We get to know each other as people, and we also get close to their customers by watching them, listening to them and interacting with them.
We’ve derailed a fair number of pitches, sometimes by refusing to be involved in a full-on competitive, creative pitch. It’s made clients question the pitch process, and, of course, its shows a lot of chutzpah on our account, which is intriguing enough for prospects to want to get to know us better. If they want to fashion us into a replica of a previous agency then we are probably not the right people to talk to…

David Wethey, founder of AAI and member of the IPA/ISBA Good Pitch initiative last year, shares his views on the business of pitching this week with the Marketing Society.

As part of the Good Pitch steering committee, David saw first-hand the collaboration between ‘renaissance clients and thoughtful agencies’ who agreed that pitches should be shorter, more open, completed with greater respect from both parties, and braver in finding alternatives.

Have these guidelines afforded much change to our industry? Where did it all go wrong, and what should agencies and clients do to avoid a ‘creative shoot-out’? Read David’s full article here.

Since 2007 we have been  working with our clients  on an improved and more effective way  of selecting their strategic and creative advertising agencies. The Strategic Workshop approach has provided agencies and our clients with a methodology for really being able to assess each other and evaluate more effectively how well they would work together.

Unlike the traditional creative pitch approach or as some call it the “creative beauty parade” where you only get to see the outcome to the brief you provided,  the strategic workshop approach really lets you test drive the agency before you make a choice.

The strategic workshop approach differs from the typical creative brief in that when a shortlist of agencies is decided, instead of providing a creative brief for the agency to develop recommendations, the agencies  are provided with a strategic problem / opportunity and the  client then  undertakes  a full strategy planning day with each agency. During the strategy workshop the marketing team work with the agency using the agencies own strategic planning process to develop a solution.

The benefits of the Strategy Workshops are:

1.       It allows the marketing team to work with the agency to discover how well they work together and see the process unfold before them.

2.       It allows the marketing team to see how and who in the agency drive the process and insights (often marketers can be left wondering who worked on the idea as in the traditional process this is hidden).

3.       The marketers get to work with three agencies on a problem or project that is important to them.

4.       It takes no more time than the traditional process once you account for briefings, question and answer sessions and the final presentations.

5.       Often the strategy and the concepts are more suitable due to the fact they are effectively co-created as will be the case when appointed.

6.       Marketers report being able to make more informed decisions on agency best fit.

Both marketers http://www.trinityp3.com/testimonials/ and the agencies http://www.trinityp3.com/agency-testimonials/  that have used the Strategy Workshop process report better and more sustainable outcomes. Even the agencies that are unsuccessful find the process more open and transparent.

What do marketers and agencies say:

Marketer Testimonial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMoyHwgxcps

Agency Testimonial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kfH9lX1w3I

Matt Williams of WCRS outlines Robin’s top tips:

As you’d expect from a man described on the night as ‘one of the most energetic people in the industry’, Robin affirmed that enthusiasm is still the most important asset to have as an agency approaching a pitch.

The quality of WCRS, he explained, was its ability to show gusto and relentless fervour that ensures that results will eventually come.

Appropriately, one of WCRS’ most recent ad campaigns was cited as a great example of this in action. In winning the Safestore ad business – a pitch against a number of other high profile agencies – WCRS forced the win by returning to the client on numerous occasions with new and exciting ideas. The passion and commitment to this cause ensured that not only did WCRS win the account, but the final work devised in the pitch was the same work that broke on TV just a month after the agency’s appointment.

But before WCRS bask in all the glory, Robin also cited that this was only made possible thanks to a brave Safestore client. This was someone who avoided the research process and made a decision based on his gut feel of how the work would do. Too often, Robin said, clients go with process and research rather than gut instinct, and it results in weaker work.

To read the full post, click here.

Daren Kay, Executive Creative Director of TMW talks about his main take-outs from the IPA event, Pitching Legends: An evening with Robin Wight and Claire Beale.

 Aside from the obvious affection held for him by colleagues young – and not so – in the audience, Robin talked unapologetically and candidly on the night’s subject; Pitching Legends. On the issue of pitch-winning tag-lines for example, Robin talked articulately about respecting brand archaeology and heritage. Or to put it another way, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’ Not even in a  pitch. Something that led him to recommend BMW use the same line in the UK (The Ultimate Driving Machine) that the company already used in the US. He also praised Adam & Eve for keeping the WCRS line for Phones4U in their latest campaign. Also, he was positively thrilled with the re-vamped WCRS Churchill ad in which the dog is driven around town by Martin Clunes to the tune of Bonnie Tyler’s ‘I need a hero’. At the end, it is Martin not Churchill who has the famous ‘Oh yes’ line. Refreshing, funny, but heritage in tact.

To read the rest of Daren’s blog post, click here.

At next week’s IPA Pitching Legends event, on 23rd May, Robin Wight, one of the industry’s most formidable and passionate pitchers will be interviewed by Campaign Editor Claire Beale. For a top line on the areas Robin will be covering, including how he intends to put the fizz back into new biz, read his article below. And for those keen to hear more of his anecdotes and cautionary tales, book tickets to the event here.

What is it that makes advertising the most fun you can have with your clothes on?

It has to be New Business.

And the analogy with romance (let’s not tarnish this blog with the S word) is obvious: wooing, seduction, consummation, marriage and eventually divorce are all part the New Business lifecycle.

One of the harsh facts of agency life is that, eventually, all clients leave you. Certainly, of the 150 clients that WCRS has had in its distinguished history only one – BMW (God bless them) – remains from our birth. So this means that without New Business an agency will eventually die. Yet the difference between winning and losing in a pitch can be just five per cent.

Next week, I will be sharing some of the stories behind the New Business successes (and failures) of WCRS at the IPA Pitching Legends event. Where did the Carling slogan come from? How did the most effective campaign WCRS ever did emerge during a pitch process with a reluctant scientist carrying out an absurd test? And what almost destroyed our pitch for BMW the night before we were meeting with the client in Munich?

And of course, pitching starts many years before the pitch.  We’ve been stalking some clients for up to 10 years, following them as they move from job to job.

A huge amount has changed in the last 30 years: most notably, the arrival of pitch consultants and procurement. I’ll be telling you about both of these innovations. And what I think of them.

For eight years we didn’t do a creative pitch at WCRS. Yet now I can see how the fizz of the pitch can bring an agency to life – provided of course you don’t neglect your existing, longstanding – and sometimes long-suffering – clients.

And, finally, how do you pull all the different skills together in the world of the multi-disciplinarily pitch (a small plug for the Engine model).

Winning a client’s trust, showing that you have passion and not just PowerPoint…. All these are part of the pitching process which I’ll be talking about next week.

You can ask me any question you like. I promise to give you a fizzy answer.

Robin Wight is being interviewed by Claire Beale at the IPA on Wednesday 23rd May. To book tickets click here

Why do clients normally get better work out of an agency at the pitch than they do later on?
What’s different, what’s changed?
Most clients think that the agency’s become bored and they’re no longer trying as hard.
But, as a creative inside an agency, I can tell you that’s not the big difference.
There’s another factor.
Recently, several senior clients at different large corporations have asked me another question.
How do I get better, braver work from my current agency(s)?
The answer is the same in each case, and based on a simple fact.
The higher up any corporation you go, the more entrepreneurial the people running it.
The lower down you go, the less entrepreneurial.
This is obvious stuff.
The people at the top are the people who can take calculated risks.
That’s what they’re paid for.
To move the business on.
To grow sales, or profits, or shareholder value.
Not to keep it where it is.
To move it forward.
The people at the top have the clout to do that.
The people lower down don’t have the clout to do that.
You don’t want them taking risks.
You want to know you’ve got people under you that you can rely on.
Someone who won’t let you down.
So you don’t want entrepreneurial behaviour lower down.
All the entrepreneurs are higher up.
But you want two things.
You want to teach your people to be entrepreneurial, so they can grow and move up.
And you want better, braver, more exciting work from your agency(s).
So here’s my question.
How can you expect non-entrepreneurial people to brief and approve entrepreneurial work?
Lower down, people know their job is not to let you down, not to take chances.
So they brief and approve what’s safe.
Work that looks like everyone else’s in fact.
They do that because they think that’s what you want.
Because they are there to avoid risk, not to give you any nasty surprises.
So you have the work being briefed and approved by people whose job it is to avoid risk.
Then you wonder why you’re not getting more exciting work out of your agency(s).
The answer is, for senior clients, if you want entrepreneurial work, you need an entrepreneur briefing and judging it.
You.
You need to lead by example.
Just the way you did at the pitch.
When the new campaign is first presented, you should be looking at the work along with your team.
That way you can see whether the agency is capable of doing exciting work or not.
You need to be there when the work is first presented.
Not after your team has already screened and vetted it.
That way, you can approve something more exciting, more daring.
Then your subordinates can see what you’re looking for.
They’re learning to be braver, more entrepreneurial, by your example.
After you’ve picked the initial work, you don’t need to be involved so much.
Now they can get on with the implementation and all the details.
You’ve taken the big decision.
You’ve chosen the exciting, brave work.
Just the way it worked at the pitch.
Instead of the conventional way an ongoing agency/client relationship works.
So that’s the answer to both questions:
Why do I get better work at the pitch?
How do I get better work out of my current agency(s)?
The big difference is who’s at the pitch, from the client end, and who isn’t there afterwards.
Senior clients are at the pitch, briefing and approving the route.
They’re not there afterwards; they just see the recommended route.
That’s why you get the best work at pitches.

Because that’s where the entrepreneurial clients are.
That’s where the entrepreneurial input is.
That’s where the entrepreneurial work gets picked.

The below post is courtesy of Matt Williams from The Engine Group. (http://www.theenginegroup.com/opinions/advertising/nightmare-pitch)

Is letting your pitch be broadcast across US national television the right thing to do?

BY Matt Williams

The advertising industry is put under the microscope again in an intriguing US show
There’s already been plenty said about Channel 4’s Mad Bad Ad Show, which was hastily pulled from its Friday night prime time slot a couple of weeks ago following a plunge in ratings.

We gave our own take on the show soon after the first episode, and it turned out that the majority of viewers shared our approach.

But while Channel 4 has learnt the hard way that a Panel Show about advertising doesn’t necessarily work (the series is being completed, but in a graveyard slot), broadcasters are still turning to the industry to help fill the time between the commercial breaks.

It doesn’t take a genius to see why – Mad Men returned to our screens last week for a fifth series, and from the buzz on Twitter it seems to be more popular than ever.

The most intriguing new advertising show in the work is – perhaps predictably – coming out of the US. The Pitch, which is due to be shown on AMC later this month, goes behind the scenes as two ad agencies battle it out in a pitch for a new account.

The account in question is Subway – not an unsubstantial piece of business – while the agencies; WDCW (better known as Wongdoody) and McKinney, are relatively high profile too.

Naturally, the show has caused somewhat of a stir among US ad agencies. While AMC has secured some well-known names, countless other agencies made it publicly clear that they had turned down the opportunity, and some prolific columnists and bloggers have continued the debate over the past few weeks arguing feverishly against agencies taking part.

Reasons for steering well clear range from not wanting to reveal the agency’s “secret sauce” to fear of not having control of the edit and ending up looking incompetent.

“With this show, everything is up in the air and out of our control. How would our process appear to outsiders? There were just too many uncertainties,” Anthony Pappis recently wrote on Ad Age, after his agency, Pappas Group, turned AMC down.

Countering Pappis, Tracy Wong – the ECD of WDCW – responded with an article of his own, commenting that “everyone who refuses to appear thinks they have something to hide”.

“If you’re not idiots or jerks, why worry?” he wrote. “Yes, there was a lot anxiety about winning or losing (to McKinney) on national TV, but this is what we do for a living.”

All fair points. But even with nothing to hide it’s amazing how easily a scenario can be spun on its head thanks to clever editing.

Some of the best agencies in town have appeared on the UK version of shows like The Apprentice, and have been made to look less competent than we all know they actually are.

So while there’s little doubt that The Pitch will make fascinating viewing (and we’ll be sitting down with our popcorn to eagerly watch like everyone else if it ever makes it across to these shores), we just hope that, for the sake of WDCW and McKinney, the show is required viewing for all the right reasons, and not because it’s another example of car-crash TV.