COMMENT - Bad pitch practice on the rise

by Dan Douglass, marketingdirectmag.co.uk 26-Oct-09, 11:32

The recession is encouraging bad pitch behaviour amongst clients, Meteorite's Dan Douglass argues.

Two weeks ago, I judged the DMA Awards. For me, it's always been an invigorating and humbling experience. No more so than this year. I have seen some bold and strong work and I have seen evidence that craft skills are very much alive. And there are clearly some great clients out there sponsoring great work.

If only that were true of pitching through the recession.

Let me share three recent experiences with you. No names, no pack drill. You know who you are.

One client conducted a six-way pitch for their business. Not unusual in itself, but having told us they'd be making a decision on the Friday following the pitch, they maintained total radio silence for two months during which time none of our calls were answered and no explanation was issued.

We were told we hadn't won it - and why. But by that time any feedback was futile as we were all so far removed from the process (including the client giving the feedback) that it felt like tokenism.

On another occasion - another big three way pitch - the client team turned up minus the senior decision-maker. The client team said they'd present our work on. But we understand that the decision-maker turned up to the other two pitches.

If anything smacks of ‘done deal', that's it.

On another occasion, we pitched to the client who was clearly delighted with the work. That was three months ago - despite calling, leaving messages and giving her a ‘get out of jail' card in the form of ‘we really don't mind if you've decided not to appoint or given the work to another agency. We'd just like to know'. The client remains stubbornly silent.

Imagine going to three bespoke kitchen companies and asking them to fit a kitchen for each wall - one contemporary ‘concept' kitchen, one cool, classic and elegant, one traditional ‘range' style.

They have a catalogue, of course, but you want to know whether the kitchen is a good feel and fit with you.

They each come and fit. You stand back, look, weigh the kitchens up and decide that on the day, you like the clean, contemporary lines of the concept kitchen.

You give the chosen kitchen company the contract. You tell the other two to come and pick up their kitchens and give them half an hour's feedback as to why you decided not to go with them.

Outrageous, isn't it?

But the cost of a new kitchen - something north of £20,000 - is the average cost of a full creative pitch.

In no other industry do you get this sale or return mentality.

The least clients can do is respect agencies who put themselves through the process. These levels of good faith will be rewarded industry-wide by great work - as this year's crop at the DMA demonstrates.

Dan Douglass is executive creative director at Meteorite. He writes a regular column for DM Bulletin and www.marketingdirect.co.uk.

Comments

Chris Lonie - 28/10/2009

This is the second article in recent weeks on this subject \(the other was written by Chris Barraclough), so it's obviously a hot topic. The stories are all too familiar: too many agencies on the pitch list, poor briefing, lack of transparency about budgets, misuse of pitch creative work, never hearing back from the client... The list is almost endless. And it all adds up to one thing: a lot of unprofessional clients. Too many clients forget that agencies are also businesses. They have overheads, costs, targets, market pressures etc. In other words, the exact same problems that some clients think are unique to them. What is hard to fathom is why agencies let this go on. Is the answer simply fear? Are the talented, tough-talking individuals who run agencies terrified of upsetting potential clients by asking them to adhere to some pretty basic standards of business decency? It would appear so. What a sad indictment of our industry. The IPA, MCCA, AAR and DMA all offer clients guidelines on how to run pitches. Obviously, clients are simply ignoring them. As soon as the agency agrees to pitch, the clock is running and the costs and risks are mounting: management time, creative time, less time spent on paying clients, cabs home for staff working late.... It all adds up. It's time agencies took a stand. And here's how they could do it. Every agency puts a link on their home page to a 'Pitch Code of Conduct'. So when prospective clients check out the websites of agencies they intend to invite to pitch, they'll know exactly where they stand. It would be the same as ticking the 'I agree to the terms and conditions' box when buying something online. The code of conduct should be straightforward, below is a list of the basic points it should cover. 1. A clear brief. \(That doesn't change during the pitch.) 2. An agreed timeline, from briefing to final response. 3. No more than four agencies on the pitch list. 4. Accurate prediction of client budget. 5. Transparency on proposed remuneration. 6. Nature of pitch: strategic, creative, media etc. 7. Agreed pitch fee. 8. Disclosure of client decision making panel. 9. Full debrief to losing agencies; both verbally and in writing. This idea needs strength in numbers. Maybe Sir Martin Sorrell could call a meeting of network heads to get the ball rolling? If the top 20 or 30 agencies did this, clients would have no option but to fall in line. Come on agency bosses. It's time to stand up and be counted.