Test driving

To be honest, I've no idea what a test drive is like. I've only been in dealerships to buy Twixes from vending machines and haven't been behind a wheel in over a decade, but the idea has always appealed to me: salesman in a pinstriped suit bowling me the keys; me working out where the seatbelts are on first try; 'Let's see what this baby can do' as we wait in traffic on the Barton Bridge.

I mention this because I reported a quick story of one agency's solution to the pitching carousel. At TBWA\MCR they've designed a special strategy workshop, just a couple of hours long, for existing and prospective clients.

The basic idea is to share some ideas in closed, nonjudgemental environment and see what sticks. If it does, it might lead to a new project or account - while saving both parties the trouble of a full review or pitch.

“It gives clients an opportunity to test drive us,” says boss Fergus McCallum. Lorna Hawtin, the 'disruption director' who leads most of the sessions, says it's generated quite a bit of work for the agency since they began using the format earlier this year.

I mention this because as you know, pitching has become a vastly expensive and stressful process for agencies. So any solutions to finding new business that don't just come down to being in the right place at the right time strike me as worth exploring.

Anyway, let me know what you think. And if you've spotted an example in the wild that you think I should know about, give me a shout.

Something for the weekend

• Speaking of driving, they're letting Lil Miquela have a go now. I wrote about her, and the commercial logic behind virtual influencers three years ago now, and I am still reliably informed that the age of the artificial influencer is just around the corner.
• Are you a mergers and acquisitions nerd? Big deal geek? You might enjoy this, especially in light of WPP's latest acronym mulching exercise: it's every acquisition the company made, from its origin in the 80s till 2001.
• I interviewed a creative director who's a specialist in Māori culture, design and language for The Drum's What Do They Do All Day? series. It's really worth a read.