Now you have the client brief in your hand, I ask one question before entering into the competitive landscape of an agency pitch.
And one that I always keep at the back of my mind throughout the pitch process.
Why have we this brief?
A moment of navel-gazing at this moment is probably right to understand why the client has chosen you/us for this brief.
In context and think about it on a broader scale, you are Agency X and just one of probably 30,000 agencies here in the UK or probably 500,000 worldwide who could have been asked to pitch.
So this is nothing to do with pats on the back. It is to be a clear and honest examination and understanding of the selection process, not though about raining on the (New Business Directors’) parade. They may well have worked tirelessly to bring in the brief.
I see a vastly different level of process and maturity within agencies – and winning a brief can cloud the commercial reality of the probability of winning the pitch. It can be just like a motorbike starting, we got it, go and get on with it. Without stopping to …
Did we get this brief just because we’re on the roster?
Have we this brief because they see us as offering something different?
Have we won this brief because of our agency positioning, which we will now have to backfill?
This list is near endless, but is not endless. There is a reason or there is a short number of reasons as to why your agency has been selected to be briefed. Identify these as best you can and park it, to revisit during the final elements of the pitch management process: creating the story for the pitch and incorporating this as part of your submission.
Unless of course you’re briefed to make up the numbers. Then your response will be different.
Rod Geoghegan
#typed notes.
Navigating the emerging landscape
#typed notes explores the emerging landscape from an insiders perspective, commenting on futurology, social media, brand planning and anthropology. And inspiration
