Marketing Procurement

Pitching and chemistry in the time of COVID-19

Pitch Processes

“Pull Quote”

Is it the end of the world if they cannot meet?  We don’t think so as there will be so many other due diligences that can take place without meeting physically.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak was first reported a couple of months ago life has changed for agencies and clients with everyone becoming more adept at video conferencing, using all of the tech tools available to us now and seemingly without a break in productivity?

How is this working in the agency pitch space?

I consulted with a number of our international colleagues a few weeks ago in the US and UK – this was obviously before their respective lockdowns and while they were meant to be “social distancing” and had not yet started to work remotely.

AAR in London for example, only started to work remotely from Monday 23 March whilst our colleagues in Spain at SCOPEN only went remote on Sunday 15 March.   AAR in New York started working remotely about the same time although they had stopped travelling about a week before that as many of their pitches are across the US.

We asked them for some input on any tips they might have from their experiences so far with pitching in this new environment and we added in a few of our own IAS thoughts.

Here are some of those:

• Difficult to generate chemistry when you are not face to face as agencies and clients – so we have to look for other ways for agencies to make an impact
• Less chance to get to know each other so rather focus on capabilities and ways of working as opposed to relying on presentation techniques
• There may be ways of creating more “theatre” via video conferencing using all of the tools available such as in Zoom, Google HangOut and Microsoft Teams which will add to the memorability of your agency session

Should a client be appointing an agency that they have not actually met physically? 

• Most pitch processes are about 11 to 12 weeks long – via pitch consultants – starting off with the RFI and credentials aspects.  Some pitch processes that have already been in play for a few weeks will ensure that clients have physically met the agencies at least once.  Using technology for meetings after this will be OK.
• One of our most recent pitch processes that we have just completed for a large industrial client – there were three separate agency disciplines so three pitch processes in total – were all conducted as normal i.e. face to face etc.  However since appointment, the majority of meetings are being conducted via video conferencing/ Microsoft Teams etc  including the collaboration meetings among the three agencies and the client
• New pitches that are starting now and have to take place due to business imperatives may mean that the first few interactions might be tech enabled but towards the end of the process, we anticipate that a physical meeting will be possible.  Is it the end of the world if they cannot meet?  We don’t think so as there will be so many other due diligences that can take place without meeting physically.

Managing the credentials process:

• We have always provided printed out specific credentials from the agencies to clients – we know that these are better received, better read and the agencies are able to specifically cater for the demands of the credentials brief that way
• People read printed out beautifully bound documents with excitement and thoroughness as opposed to flicking through a set of electronic credentials and content
• These documents are kept throughout the process, are referred to continuously by the clients and their teams,  and are important for us to give feedback post pitch to the competing agencies
• Over the next few pitches we will be breaking with tradition – innovating – and asking agencies to supply credentials in a different way (we have already tested out the theory with a few of our agency leaders and they are excited at the new possibilities as are the clients)
• Evaluating specific credentials is a very important part of our process and one of our unique methodologies, tried and tested.  The learning process for the clients will be slightly modified using technology and will provide opportunities for their teams to learn and focus – always with the aim of finding the best fit agency and eliminating those that do not fit

We are looking forward to the changes these simple steps will make in our processes and feel pretty sure at this stage that pitch processes will not be hampered – in fact we think it could be even more fun than normal as we all find our way through the hurdles placed in our lives by Covid-19.

In the meantime everyone – #stayhome #staysafe #flattenthecurve

About the author

Johanna McDowell is the CEO and Founder of IAS (Independent Agency Search and Selection) based in Johannesburg, South Africa and has built her career in marketing and advertising since 1974, starting out in marketing in the UK then holding directorships in both South Africa and British advertising agencies. She was appointed Managing Director of Grey – Phillips Advertising in 1988 and founded the IAS in 2007.

About the IAS

The IAS (Independent Agency Search and Selection Company) in association with the AAR Group (UK) was founded in South Africa in 2007. IAS specializes in client/agency relationship management and helping clients find agencies.

SCOPEN Africa was launched in South Africa in 2016 in partnership with the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company.

The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Marketing Procurement iQ or imply endorsement from the publisher