How to win a media pitch

Twenty five years in and with the benefit of having worked for a number of the worlds leading media agencies, two intermediaries, including helping found one of them, and having been involved in probably more than a 100 media pitches I thought I’d reflect on what I think helps to win a media agency a pitch. So here’s my top 20 pitch-winning helpers:

1. Have a pitch lead. Before we get into any tips it’s important to have a pitch lead. This is the person who pulls the story of the pitch together. This person needs certain qualities; they need to be able to synthesise multiple sources of information into a single coherent and accessible story. Pitches generate huge amounts of information but whilst a lot may be useful in defining the overall approach, not all of it is required in the pitch story. Leading the pitch requires sifting the wheat from the chaff and developing a logical, well argued, simple and persuasive narrative.
2. Answer the question. This may seem simple and obvious but it doesn’t always happen. The temptation for agencies is to reframe the question to suit their strengths. This is like answering an A level question with everything you know about a topic, rather than specifically answering the question asked. Do you remember what teachers used to say, “make sure you answer the question”? Moreover, when you receive a brief you are receiving a document that will have been drafted, edited, circulated, amended, updated and agreed by various client-side stakeholders. The questions in the brief are the questions that everyone in the client team wants answered. Do them the courtesy of answering those questions. There are rare occasions when the brief isn’t what the client wants. This is counter-productive and unhelpful. If you think this might be the case try to flush it out early in the pitch process and ask the client pertinent questions.
3. Have a simple compelling narrative. You must have a pitch story that provides the narrative backbone of everything you cover in the pitch. If you think about most movies or novels that have made an impact on you, they will have a story and the story will be based on one of nine main plot themes – rags to riches, quest, tragedy or rebirth. For most pitches the story will be either rags to riches or rebirth. Think about how you can corral your insight and strategy, delivery and results into one of the these plots. You must be able to write the outline on one page – if you can do these things, thenyou could have the makings of a compelling story.
4. Talk about the client, not yourself. It’s always interested me that the word “you” was the word most often used in Beatles song titles. Clients and prospects want you to talk about them and how you can change their world. When you talk about your agency it must be in the context of what you can do for the client. Use a sense check here; if when you talk about you agency it’s not explaining the relevance to the client, think again.
5. Be different. From the moment you submit your RFI or walk into the pitch room the client wants something that not many people have. They are looking for original high value thinking. Dare to be different, shine new light through old windows, make your case logically, provide the commercial benefits. You should be leaving the clients thinking you were bold, different and exciting. If it was too bold they can ask you to dial it down but if you aren’t bold, there’s no way to dial it up after the event.
6. Don’t use generic material. The scourge of pitches. Why? Because it’s so obviously a substitute for either work or knowledge or worse, both. Ultimately, it shows that the agency doesn’t know how to be different. Who wants to work with any agency that relies on generic industry research or case study material to make its case? You can use the findings of such research but you must apply it directly to the context of the client you are pitching for.
7. Generate your own insight. So this wins pitches be in no doubt. New, unique, different and high value insight tells clients something they don’t know. It makes them think hard about what you are saying and who is saying it. It builds an intellectual bond. Even if you are slightly wrong you gain huge points for making the effort to produce something new and different. If possible, give the client a taster of your insight at chemistry – if your work is good enough it will make putting you through to the next stage irresistible.
8. Define the strategic problem in a “business school” way. The communication problem in the brief will sit within a wider set of issues affecting your client – a growing or declining category, increasing new entrants, low entry barriers, increased price competition, vulnerability to alternative suppliers and so on. You will need to understand this context to answer the brief correctly. This thinking is often absent in pitches but it shows the client that you understand their category as well as the their consumers.
9. Have a big idea. David Ogilvy once said ‘a campaign that doesn’t contain a big idea will pass like a ship in the night’. At the time he was talking about creative ideas. But with the media landscape as complex as it is today, a big idea can be a powerful antidote to media complexity. That idea should be something that works across multiple platforms and provides multiple communication benefits to the client. It should be an idea – not necessarily an individual media property – that the client, agency and consumer can all coalesce around. The idea should bond like DNA.
10. Be careful with tools and tech. Every top 20 agency has lots of tools and tech. Some of these are the result of massive investment. Some are just nice front ends to simple spreadsheets. The issue for clients is they don’t know the good from the bad and the useful from the useless. Tools and tech are potentially valuable but clients can’t always evaluate them well enough to inform a pitch decision. As a result these issues are often taken out of their decision making process – either consciously or subconsciously. If you are going to talk about tools and tech make sure they can be understood and the benefits are clear and relatable for the clients.
11. Bring it to life. Where possible use mock ups to show how your campaign might look when it does live. This isn’t always easy but it makes your plans much more buyable. There are some great free tools that can help here – for example
12. Use proof points. When you make your points, whether it’s about the brand, category, consumers or customers, try to conclude the points with evidence.
13. Demonstrate your ROI case. When you are pitching, you are pitching to spend someone else’s money. It could be shareholders’ or it could be seed investors’ or private individuals’ money. Money is at the heart of pitch decision making. Make sure you demonstrate how you will buy media and invest media money optimally. If you don’t cover this you are leaving a big hole in your case.
14. Take a position on fraud and tech stack costs. This is a big issue for clients and it’s not made any easier when ISBA and PwC tell them 50% of their digital media money doesn’t get in front of consumers and 15% of it “disappears into a black hole”. Many tech costs make the digital performance results better but you will need to explain how yours do this – in a simple and clear way.
15. Field good people. All agencies have different types of people. In a pitch situation you need to field the people who convey knowledge, experience, logical thinking and confidence. The client doesn’t want their budget to be the guinea pig for the graduate training scheme. This doesn’t mean you have to field senior management but it does mean you have to field really good “day to day” people. The people who will be working for the client.
16. Tell a story that will resonate with your prospect. Media is complex and a cleat pitch story provides a spine around which detail can be discussed. Tell them how you are going to take them from A to B and include details at relevant signposts along this process journey. Provide this navigation so that if they are momentarily distracted they can reengage quickly and not lose key threads for the rest of the meeting.
17. Show the prospect where they will fit into your business. If you are pitching a £5m client and your agency billings are £200m they will be 2.5% of your business. This means you will have to demonstrate why they will be important and how you will prioritise and service them if they sign up with your agency.
18. Don’t ask too many pre-pitch questions. Many agencies think these questions are a useful way to build a relationship with the client. Most of the time these questions are an irritation for the the client; they’ve decided to run the pitch, they’ve worked internally to create the brief and pitch document. They given you the problem. They now want you to go and solve it.
19. Pitch in a room with a good aspect. This is a strange one, but it can matter. Rooms that don’t have natural light can contribute to a negative vibe. You don’t have to go grandiose but do pitch in a room that clients would want to be in again. Make the room interesting.
20. Last but not least, food. Serve some memorable snacks or lunch but avoid things laced with sugar. It causes tiredness and distraction. You need to serve tasty low calorie food. Serve something memorable; this may sound frivolous but it’s a way of driving recall. After two days in meetings the client may forget it was your agency that made a key point. But if the client says “that was the agency that served the organic chicken skewers” someone will remember that was you.