COMMENT - Memo to British Airways and Toyota: you can conduct a pitch in 24 hours. And here's why

And before you accuse me of sour grapes, my agency has had - at worst - an average success rate in our pitches recently (but thanks for asking anyway), so I believe I am feeling pretty objective right now.

The pitch is expensive. In my own agency an "average" pitch (and we all know there's no such thing) costs us around £50,000 in time and external costs. The bigger pitches cost us hundreds of thousands of pounds.  

And I can think of a couple of pitches in recent times (maybe British Airways, Toyota?) which took much longer then expected, and therefore probably cost everyone - client and agency - much, much more.

Essentially, a pitch is 90 minutes of suspended disbelief when the agency is on its very best behaviour for which it has marshalled an unsustainable level of resource.

So why do we keep doing it?

1. Because we love it. Seriously; ask anyone who's worked in an agency and then moved client-side. They all say "I miss the pitching."

2. Because we daren't say ‘no'. My first agency boss told me that the best account handlers are essentially paranoid; permanently desperate to please.

3. And because we're extremely competitive. Most of my (few) friends in agencies - account handling paranoia aside - are pretty egocentric.

The pitch plays perfectly to all our human imperfections.

But I'm a planner and I stand by my initial, objective assessment: it's a waste of time and money and we must improve it for all concerned.

I'm championing a new approach. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, just when you thought the pitch process couldn't get more frenetic - I'm suggesting we do it all within 24 hours. 

Let me elaborate. The chemistry session does go some way to address the unrealistic nature of the pitch - but we all know that increasingly, these sessions are simply code for a pitch with less time to prepare.

We should be stripping everything back, indeed: the brief should be issued only 24 hours before the pitch. Everyone should treat the pitch as a workshop with, to some extent, strategies and creative ideas being developed on the fly.

What's in it for clients
1. The client would get to see the agency working raw and unplugged, and in an environment which would be pretty close to a real situation. ‘Real' chemistry would play out, as people are forced to work against the clock and reveal their inner agency workings.

We all know that the moments of brilliance tend not to happen in a formal, rehearsed pitch environment. Rather, they unfold in the frantic build-up to the pitch, in the pub, in the brainstorm, in the shower. Why not expose our prospective clients to these moments? (Ok, not the shower moments, but you get the idea...).

2. From the client perspective, they get a genuine insight into how the agency team would work without the highfalutin pomp and circumstance that so often accompanies the current pitch process.

What's in it for agencies
And the agencies? What's the benefit for them? Well, not much unless you consider ...

1. The odd £50,000 and an invaluable amount of time, stress and pressure on the whole business.

2. Those of us that love the high-intensity and drama of the pitch still get it, and rather than presenting a perfect pitch and then uncovering fundamental problems with the relationship down the line, everyone gets the experience of what it really would be like to work together.

Some agencies will shirk away from this kind of exposure - preferring instead to maintain the safety of an organised, staggered pitch.

Some clients will err on the side of ‘the way it's always been done'. I will be right behind the first client or intermediary to champion this new approach.

I'm up for the challenge if you are...

About the author
Mark Runacus is chief strategy officer at HS&P. He started his agency career as an account manager at Payne Stracey which became Tequila. Following that he was managing director of MHA Carlson, a management partner at OgilvyOne, and managing director of RMG (now RMG Connect). At RMG, Mark led the team which devised Sainsbury's original Reward Card customer segmentation.

He has developed relationship marketing programmes for many brands including British Home Stores, AT&T, American Express, BT, British Airways, Camelot, DaimlerChrysler, Honda, IBM, Nissan, Singapore Airlines and Weight Watchers.   
 
Mark has served twice on the DMA's agency council committee and currently sits on the IPA's Direct Marketing Futures Group.