agency pitches - Business Marketing Club

www.businessmarketingcollective.com

January 2015

INDUSTRY GUIDELINES:

AGENCY PITCHES

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1.Introduction: Aims and objectives This document is intended to assist both parties (inhouse marketers/clients and agencies) in the potentially critical process of pitch management for business-tobusiness marketing campaigns or programmes. It is essential that everyone involved in the process on either side of the fence understand what is expected of them, and what they can expect in return from the other party. This will minimise miscommunications and give all those involved the best possible opportunity to ensure satisfactory conclusions. This document is designed to be applicable regardless of marketing task or challenge, and the type or types of agencies involved – this could include brand agencies, marketing communications agencies, digital agencies, PR agencies, etc. For both parties, this process is potentially critical to their future success – selecting the wrong partner can be catastrophic. According to data from the IPA, participating in a pitch can cost even a small agency around £32,000 – for a large agency for a big project, the cost can rise to over £175,000. For clients, the wrong agency partner may ultimately have significant negative impacts on the business, or at least result in work and results below the standard required.

2. Identifying pitch candidates For inhouse marketers, any pitch process starts with a longlist of agencies they might wish to work with. It is recommended that no more than eight agencies feature on this list, to ensure thorough evaluation of each. Compilation of this list should reference all relevant sources, including previous experience of agencies you’ve worked with in the past, personal recommendation from present and past colleagues, and agencies you’ve become aware of in the wider market through their PR, content or awards success. A separate set of BMC Industry Guidelines will cover this topic in detail. 2.1 Credentials or ‘Creds’ meetings Organising ‘Creds’ meetings is the best means of whittling this longlist down to a more manageable shortlist. Creds meetings should discuss the agencies past experience, skills, resources, financial footing and – perhaps most importantly – determine whether there is chemistry between the agency representatives and those of the internal team. A common set of appraisal criteria should be agreed by client representatives in advance, which will form the basis of feedback if requested. (Note: If time available for the whole pitch process is short, the Creds presentation could be integrated into pitch interview itself.) It is recommended that a shortlist includes no more than four agencies – five if an incumbent agency is to be considered alongside new ones – in order to ensure the process is manageable.

Business Marketing Collective c/o B2B Marketing, Clover House, 147-149 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3HN, UK t: +44 (0) 20 7438 1370 | e: [email protected] w: businessmarketingcollective.com

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3. Pitch preparation Pitching can be a convoluted, complex and time-consuming process, but it provides the most comprehensive view of potential agency partners, which can pay dividends for large companies in particular. Depending on the size or complexity of the pitch, clients may consider paying a nominal fee to participating agencies, to reflect the time and effort spent on preparation. The following steps are recommended in terms of effective pitch management. 3.1 RFIs (Request for Information) and PQQs (Pre-qualification Questionaire) If your organisation has a procurement department, or utilises external procurement services, you will need all shortlisted agencies to complete either one of these forms in order to participate. The blank forms should be sent out on the same date to the nominated individual at each agency, with a shared completion date that is clearly specified. Agencies who are unable to meet the specified deadline should not be considered for participation in the pitch itself. Clear contact information should be provided for questions regarding these forms. 3.2 The pitch briefing document All agencies participating in a pitch must be provided with a robust, written brief to work from, ensuring clarity of both thinking and presentations and ensuring all agencies have a level playing field. Ideally all participating agencies should be issued with the written brief in person at the same time in a shared meeting. The pitch briefing document may or may not contain the same information as the ultimate project brief, but it should include the following information: • • • • • • • • •

Details of the brand and product/service in question The objectives of the campaign The target audience Other market and competitor information The budget The timescale Expected deliverables Measurement expectations, including ROI, milestones and KPIs A synopsis of previous activity, plus successes and failures.

It must also clearly specify the structure, format and timing of the pitching session itself, together with the names and roles of any individuals who will be present, and the location, date and time. Again, clear contact information should be provided. A deadline of between four and six weeks should be given for agencies to complete their proposals. Specifying a mid-way point and opportunity for dialogue can help drive up quality of response by ensuring proper understanding of the brief and enabling further dialogue. Business Marketing Collective c/o B2B Marketing, Clover House, 147-149 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3HN, UK t: +44 (0) 20 7438 1370 | e: [email protected] w: businessmarketingcollective.com

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Finally, the brief must specify whether out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses can be claimed back by participating agencies.

4 Pitch management 4.1 Time allocation It is recommended that no more than five agencies are asked to pitch – four is preferable. To ensure a level playing field, each agency must be given an equal length of time in which to present their ideas – two hours maximum is suggested, with an hour to present and an hour for questions. To ensure consistency of focus and minimise participant fatigue, it is recommended to run all the pitch interviews on the same day. 4.2 Participants Pitch organisers must balance the need to ensure consistent attendance from colleagues (which typically suggests all pitch interviews should take place on the same day) with the need to avoid ‘pitch fatigue’ (which suggests they take place on different days. Ideally all relevant members of the marketing team involved in the project are involved in the pitch meeting, from marketing director, through to exec, to ensure a broad perspective is developed. If the campaign integrates with sales, the sales director should also be included, as should a member of the procurement team if relevant. A pitch scorecard should be circulated to all in house personnel attending, clarifying the key selection criteria and enabling better post-interview evaluation – this could include strategic thinking, creative, budget etc. Clients should also agree in advance a common set of questions which participating agencies should be asked. Prior to the pitch interview, agencies should receive: • • • •

A full list of the other agencies participating. A list of those client side representatives involved. A cost sheet template, to enable them to specify proposed costs in a common and comparable format. Details of the pitch room, including technology and presentation facilities available to them on the day.

4.3 Intellectual property Clients must expect to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) to protect the intellectual property of the work that each agency has produced. This should be signed by the client and returned to the agency in advance of the pitch presentation.


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4.4 Selection and feedback Once presentations have concluded, it is recommended that pitch organisers assemble those who attended as quickly as possible in order to make a decision whilst the process is still fresh in their minds. Regardless of this, clients must provide all participating agencies with a clear and realistic idea of how long it take them to reach a decision. Once a leading candidate has been identified, references of that agency’s clients who are of a similar size and scope, should be provided in order to validate final selection. For those agencies that are unsuccessful, the client must provide feedback on the following topics: • • • •

The creative solution presented. The strategic thinking. The agency’s performance in the presentation. Any other comments relevant to the decision.

Write brief

Do the brief upfront, it helps shorten your initial search process and helps confirm the need for an agency.

Draw up agency longlist The agency longlist is not necessarily the list of agency’s you’ll invite to pitch. It can be a longer list of ‘suspects’ who feel on first glance or on recommendation could deliver on your brief.

Pitch process

RFI to longlist

The Request for Information goes to your longlist. This allows you to compare your longlisted agencies on some basic but important criteria: 1. Financials and resourcing 2. Skillsets 3. Client list and examples of relevant work.

Issue brief and chemistry meetings This stage of the process is critical. The brief is issued to your longlist (minus anyone who didn’t make the grade at RFI stage). Then invite the agencies to a chemistry meeting, which will cover: 1. Agency creds 2. Discussion around the brief and your requirements.

Pitch

The pitch should allow 1-2 hours depending on the brief. We recommend 3-5 agencies at this shortlist stage – again depending on your brief and timescales.


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5 The alternative to pitches Should a client decide not to organise a pitch, creds meetings are the best alternative way to vet agencies. However, they are less useful in providing quantifiable tangible points of comparison – gut feel is often the key criteria determining which agencies selected via this route.

About BMC The mission of the Business Marketing Collective’s mission is to drive the B2B marketing industry forward, raising standards, providing leadership and enabling cooperation and collaboration between practitioners on all sides of the industry. Membership of the BMC is available to individual client-side practitioners, agencies and vendors. For more information on membership and on the regular activities of BMC, go to www.businessmarketingcollective.com

About BMC Industry Guidelines Industry Guidelines have been created by the Business Marketing Collective to help formalise best practice around key issues in business-to-business marketing, and improve consistency of both understanding and delivery. Each set of guidelines have been produced by a group of expert B2B practitioners and endorsed by the Executive Council of the BMC. BMC Industry Guidelines are available to download for free from the BMC website – www.businessmarketingcollective.com.

Acknowledgements The following practitioners gave up their time to produce these guidelines: • • • • • • • •

Danny Turnbull, MD, Gyro Manchester Drew Nicholson, MD, OgilvyOne DNX Annabel Pritchard, CMO, Deloitte UK Elizabeth Smith, area VP of marketing, Marketo Dave Stevens, marketing director, British Land Claire Sadler, marketing director, BT Business Chris Wilson, MD, Earnest Sylvia Jensen, marketing director, Oracle Marketing Cloud

ENDS
