New research found several expectation gaps through the pitching process; from the size of account which clients and agencies are willing to put out to pitch/pitch for, to who is present in the pitch, and how feedback is given afterwards.
Agencies and clients still fundamentally misunderstand each other at several key points of the pitch process, suggests a new study.
Aiming to identify the problems in the pitching process, the study surveyed almost 500 UK client marketers and 500 agencies by intermediary FindGood.
The research found several expectation gaps through the pitching process; from the size of account which clients and agencies are willing to put out to pitch/pitch for, to who is present in the pitch, and how feedback is given afterwards.
The research also revealed that while clients will often feel they behave in a certain way, this can be perceived differently by agencies.
For example, while 50% of client marketers feel that the ultimate decision maker is always present in the pitch, just 20% of agencies say that this is the case.
Feedback is another problematic area, with 26% of clients reporting that they give feedback to unsuccessful agencies ‘every time’.
It’s not all bad news. It seems the era of famously long pitch lists is over. More than 80% of clients say that up to three agencies is the maximum number they would shortlist to pitch, with 56% of agencies saying they would be willing to pitch against just three or four other agencies.
Pre-pitch communication also seems to be something to celebrate, with 90 % of clients saying they would be willing to speak to agencies ahead of a pitch.
Integrated approaches are also generally welcomed, with 55% of clients expressly saying that an integrated to response to any brief, whether requested or not, would be of interest to them.
Annabelle Bates, managing director at FindGood says: “While we expected there to be some areas where agencies and clients were well-matched in their expectations of pitching and relationships, we also expected to see some areas of discrepancy – and the research has really shown that to be the case.
“Finding the right agency, in the right way at the start of the process can make or break the creative relationship from day one. When there’s a gulf in communications and actions, there’s also a gulf in understanding, which is unhelpful for everyone. A long and productive relationship between agencies and clients is the gold standard, and that has to begin with a well-run pitch.”
I did my thesis on the matter, and i came up with similar conclusions! better results will show up in working together!
It’s an interesting area Alexandre, I bet your thesis is very interesting!
The abstract sums up the ideas in english but everything else is in portuguese, i don’t have it all translated but you’ll find my study at https://www.repository.utl.pt/bitstream/10400.5/6289/1/DM-AMAC-2013.pdf