How agencies are taking client pitches virtual

April 03, 2020

By Kristina Monllos

Across the industry, as everyone scrambles to figure out new ways of working, one more quintessential part of agency life that’s gone virtual is the pitch. Without the ability to meet in person, agencies are cooking up ways to bring “pitch theater” — i.e. the physical presentation of an agency’s brand of creativity — to life online.

“An office environment enables us to create endless opportunities for pitch theater so we asked ourselves, ‘What would the Black Sheep do to take the same level of magic to people’s living rooms?’,” said Tim Harvey, chief growth officer, BBH Group, adding that the shop created an augmented reality experience for a pitch last week to do just that. “It was a comms solution born out of a world that recognized the production realities of [coronavirus].”

Due to the new work from home reality across the globe, agencies, brands and consultants are all adapting to pitching over Zoom and WebEx, among others. Instead of shaking hands or sussing out someone’s personality in office conference rooms or over drinks, agencies and brand marketers are hopping on video chats, seeing each others’ home offices and learning how to continue the norms of the business together, albeit digitally.

Whether agencies are pitching new creative concepts or new business, doing so has never been about simply shaking hands and showing a PowerPoint presentation. Agencies have spent decades perfecting how to immerse clients into a story and make them feel connected to an idea so that they buy it. Transforming how that’s done digitally doesn’t happen instantly and can be awkward, agency execs and consultants say as it can be difficult to get a sense of how a pitch is being received without seeing body language.

“Pitching by Zoom is tricky since we all know so much is based on team chemistry,” said Lisa Clunie, co-founder and CEO of Joan Creative. “I can’t say we’ve perfected the tool yet, but we’re working hard to keep our fun culture at the forefront of our client meetings.”

The lack of proper in-person pitch theater likely makes the work more important than the chemistry. “The work now truly has to speak for itself,” said Alison Moser, head of business development and PR, Forsman & Bodenfors NY. “It’s forced us to be more direct in our presentations and disciplined about their delivery. But this all comes with a much more transparent and honest communication line between agency and client. At the end of the day, it feels like we’re all rewriting the rules of pitching, and I hope they continue to evolve to an even more human place once we get through this.”

The types of pitches happening virtually vary. Some agencies are simply figuring out new ways to pitch current clients on new creative or media placements. Others are vying for new business via pitches, many of which are still on-going according to consultants who say that while some clients, particularly those in healthcare, have paused agency searches that the majority …read more

Source:: Digiday

      

amateurfetishist.com analonly.org todominate.org fullfamilyincest.com