Over my career I must have been exposed to more agency credentials presentations than can be entirely healthy. All three integrated agencies I worked for were rather keen on reinventing themselves every 18 months, complete with a new positioning to go with their new identity. And I’ve latterly had reason to look over more than … Continue reading why agencies need to own their positioning
Category: new business
in praise of pitching
You may have already deduced from the lack of posts from me recently that I’ve just surfaced from spending a month immersed in a major pitch (*crosses fingers, waits for phone call*). unpublished creative work-in-progress for The Pitch by Empire Design taken from AMC's website Does your agency pitch, or do you make a point … Continue reading in praise of pitching
Never Knowingly Underprepared
As the fridge heaved last weekend with the extra-large-in-case-it-snows-alot supermarket shop, I was chatting to a family member about what our family motto could be. We came up with Never Knowingly Underprepared. image generated here As a family we all like lists, fully stocked cupboards, Plans of Action and Being Prepared. In my previous agency … Continue reading Never Knowingly Underprepared
when you can’t blow your own trumpet
The average agency website or creds presentation will always have a ‘client’ page where they boast about the brands and organisations they work with. It would be fair to say that some of these stretch the truth a bit, encompassing the FMCG brand the agency produced a one-off standee for and the Blue Chip firm … Continue reading when you can’t blow your own trumpet
Whatever happened to Pitch Season?
In the world of agency New Business, you used to know where you were by simply looking at the calendar. Pitch Season ran according to the academic year, with a particular spike in activity between September and the end of November. I’ve been working in and around agencies for twelve years now and one of … Continue reading Whatever happened to Pitch Season?
The Laws of the Pitch Room
Even though I’m freelance I still take part in quite a few proper pitches. I mean the full-blown strategy + creative + logistics + budget presentations in front of senior clients where they decide based on a ninety minute presentation whether or not to spend a million pounds plus with the agency. Comparing these agency … Continue reading The Laws of the Pitch Room
Pitch perfect?
As part of my occasional series of posts on Insights Based on Freelancing at Other People’s Agencies, this time my thoughts turn to Pitching. I’ve worked on rather a lot of pitches recently, of all shapes and sizes. Since the last couple of agencies I was employed by worked in a fairly similar way, I’d … Continue reading Pitch perfect?
“I don’t know what the budget is, but even if I did I couldn’t tell you”
Via Research Queen Shehnaz (who I am currently badgering for a Guest Post), comes this gem:
abandon hope, all ye who pitch (or tender) round here
It’s slowly dawning on me that it’s not just the large-ish integrated agencies I used to work for that get seriously messed about in tenders and pitches by clients. Every agency I go into seems to be in the throes of some kind of new business related angst. Take, for example: The client’s tender where … Continue reading abandon hope, all ye who pitch (or tender) round here
There’s no business like new business
More than for any other specialism, the First Client Meeting or New Business Meeting can be particularly challenging for Planners. Account Handlers can communicate their excellence by being all organised, professional and empathetic. Creatives have their showreel and the option of a ‘challenging’ personal style statement to fall back on. Meanwhile the Account Planners have … Continue reading There’s no business like new business