Brand and agency leaders agree pitching approach is ‘no longer fit for purpose’
Just over two-thirds (68%) of brand CMOs and four-fifths (84%) of agency CEO’s feel the current approach to pitching is “no longer fit for purpose.”
This is one of the key takeaways from Creativebrief’s recent Future of the Pitch report, which underscores the industry’s apparent dissatisfaction with how it currently approaches pitching.
Notably, more than half (51%) of agencies feel the current approach poses a long-term threat to success in the future, highlighting the importance of the issue and the need for change.
The report says that despite the IPA & ISBA’s Pitch Positive Pledge, which launched in May 2022, bringing greater awareness of the topic, this research finds: “A sense of reversal of any positive behaviours amongst a tightening economic climate and growing financial pressures for all.”
The main challenge cited is a lack of clarity and agreement around what alternative pitches could look like.
The current consensus around pitching
Some 68% of brands and 72% of agencies don’t believe the pitch gives a true sense of what the other party would be like to work with.
Certain factors were cited as universally important in deciphering which brands and agencies would work well together, these include: culture, ways of working, philosophy and ambition.
However, more than two-thirds of both sides agreed that the current pitch approach does not allow accurate identification of this.
In addition, 86% of agencies and 47% of brands feel the current way pitches are conducted is a factor in the “ongoing commoditisation of creativity.”
But the report is clear that both agencies and brands want change.
Of the agencies surveyed, 82% said they would prefer an “alternative” approach to the pitch, and 79% of brands said they would take an “alternative” approach if they were to run a pitch tomorrow.
Claire Hollands, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, says: “The fundamentals of pitches (and winning them) are still the same – great chemistry, showing a clear understanding of the client’s ambitions, and creating excitement about how creativity can help them realise those ambitions.
“Does this always need a five-stage, three-month process, including a 30-page (usually unread) written response? Is this remotely sustainable? I’d argue probably not.”
Barriers to the alternative pitch
Within the findings, 45% of brands and 35% of agencies cited a lack of visible alternatives as a barrier to change, alongside a lack of time to consider changes and limited confidence in the results.
A lack of agreement between brands and agencies on alternative pitches was also present within the findings.
Two-thirds (66%) of brands preferred conducting a full pitch over a shorter time frame; however, fewer than 20% of agencies agreed.
Three fifths (58%) of agency CEOs would prefer a shift to more in-depth interrogation of the brief and diagnosis of challenges, rather than presenting answers and solutions.
Just over half (51%) also favoured proposing strategic responses rather than creative responses.
However, despite almost one third of CMOs being open to interrogating the brief as an alternative, just 18% favoured dropping “creative responses” from pitching.
Despite this, 39% of the same CMO group surveyed did say they would be comfortable judging an agency’s creative capability on previous work, leaving room for potential compromise.
Moving forward
The report advocated prioritising progress over perfection, stating that there is no “one size fits all” approach.
It is argued that the focus should be on producing a “small number of verified and accepted alternatives with clear guidelines for brands as to which route to select depending on their brief.”
Meanwhile, 68% of brands said they would feel comfortable using AI to shortlist potential agency partners in the future, and 56% of agencies said they would feel comfortable with this.
Charlie Carpenter, CEO, Creativebrief, says: “It’s easy to glaze over at statistics, but we all need to recognise the key headline here that the significant majority of both brand and agency leaders now agree that the way the industry approaches pitching today is simply no longer fit-for-purpose.
“That is uncharted territory from previous studies, which in turn means a huge opportunity here with a greater appetite for change than ever before on both sides.
“What is clear to us at Creativebrief, though, is that future processes must be designed with two simple aims in mind: increasing decision-making accuracy for brands whilst simultaneously decreasing time and resource input for agencies.
“If all parties can galvanise around this vision, then everyone walks away a winner.”
The research surveyed over 100 brand CMOs and agency CEOs, including Diageo, EasyJet, Dr Martens, L’Oreal and Channel 4.
This is the third iteration of the Future of the Pitch report by Creativebrief, previously published in 2019 and 2022.