6 step–guide to a managing a successful creative pitch

There was a time when I loved to pitch for creative work. There’s something intoxicating about the time pressure, the guessing game, the cajoling of strategic allies to have faith in you and jump feet first into a boiling cauldron of unknowns, the oozing suspicion and high stakes tension as we blindly attempt to resolve a major brand’s marketing woes in a ridiculously short amount of time.  

It must be said that delivering the brief proposal to the client, having met all its creative and technical specifications, is cathartic. Afterwards, we generally head to the pub to celebrate our undisputed creative genius with copious amounts of wine or mezcal. We commend each team member for their insights and self-sacrifice that has once again proven beyond–a–shadow–of–a–doubt, their unflinching commitment to the agency as evidenced by the 2 or 3 all-nighters that were pulled in the effort to deliver unrivaled marketing greatness.  

And then the reckoning – and the hangover – begins. The standard time allotted for a yay or nay response from the prospect varies, but the industry standard is roughly 2 weeks. So, a guessing game begins that sees steel nerves begin to fray, tensions rise and self-doubt set in. Pitch participants begin to question our decisions, apologize for a minor error caught in hindsight – turned gigantic – question whether the right partners were invited to participate and whether we should have dropped the price to go in cheap, despite not knowing who we are competing against and how they may have responded to the brief.  

Sometimes, the deadline passes, and yet the brand manager has not called. In those situations I tend to scan my emails frenetically, searching my spam folder for a sign,any sign. A hint that we have at worst been shortlisted, or at best declared winners in this cruel game of chance, as I unravel before my very eyes. But all I see in my inbox is an endless stream of travel alerts to places I don’t have the time to travel to, and news updates on the seeming tsunami of bad news that is the norm these days. I break a sweat, in breath–bated, ulcer-inducing, constipation-creating, anticipation-anxiety. 

So, if asking agencies to pitch becomes the marketing faux pas as I am hoping it does, how is a respectable brand to fairly evaluate the strategic and creative thinking of agencies before committing to a business relationship with them? I am ever so glad you asked. The answer is simple. Here’s my…

6 step–guide to a managing a successful creative pitch while avoiding becoming a marketing pariah.

• Do your homework: Prepare a comprehensive brief that includes hard data on your campaigns, your objective and all the juicy stuff we are happy to sign NDAs just to access. Remember, we live in the information age, being stingy with it is a sign of bad taste.  
•  Take a chance: Of course, invite the solid trusted names in the industry, but also consider inviting up–and–coming agencies that are not risk-adverse.  
• Chill out on the deadline: The industry standard seems to be 1-2 weeks, but if you are asking an agency to put their best people and resources on your project, then give them the time required to organize themselves, do the research and create their magic. If you expect the agency to drop everything and respond to you like it’s the only thing that matters just because you needed to present the proposals to management yesterday, that only really proves that you are a narcissist and should probably brush up on your project management skills.   
• Be fair (and ethical while you are at it): While this may sound like a no-brainer, I've worked with and heard of literally many dozens of national and international companies that decide the fate of the final campaign based on project manager personality or some other trivial thing, like a bribe for example. (Viva México!).  
• Be thankful (and give feedback): There is nothing that betrays the arrogance of a brand manager quite like the disdain for providing constructive feedback to the losing agencies after they have invested time, energy and creativity in a pitch. Don't be a schmuck, help us improve our game.  And last but not least… 
• Don’t be cheap: We do not expect you to give up a vital organ in return, but a nominal payment for our participation suggests that, at the very least, you value the agency’s time, even if you really don’t, either way, it’s good PR (and karma).  

At Mijo! Brands, a leading creative agency in digital marketing, with a presence in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, we have a team of multidisciplinary professionals, specialists in creating digital marketing strategies and successful brand launches who will know how to prepare presentations to revolutionize your brand. But first, let’s agree on a fair payment and a consistent brief.