Pitch fee is mandatory! Or not?
The management consulting firm Inverto surveyed decision-makers in marketing and procurement, as well as CEOs at German brand companies, about their current and future approaches to pitch fees.
Associations and agencies agree that paying a pitch fee is mandatory. Voices on the opposite side counter this demand by arguing that there is hardly any other industry in which a client should finance the acquisition. Against this backdrop, the management consultancy Inverto is conducting the online survey "Pitch fee is mandatory! Or not?".
Pitch fees are not standard
Almost a third of the companies surveyed have never paid a pitch fee. 64 percent have already paid a pitch fee one to five times, but only 19 percent pay agencies regularly (> 6 times). On the other hand, pitches are not mass events. 65 percent usually only invite one to three agencies.
Pitches are particularly common in traditional advertising
80 percent of those surveyed have already carried out a pitch in the field of traditional advertising. 87 percent also consider a pitch fee to be useful in this area. In second place for the payment of pitch fees is the online marketing sector with 55 percent.
Pitch fees rarely rise above 5000 euros
28% would never pay a pitch fee, regardless of the budget size of the assignment; the majority (63%) consider pitch fees of EUR 500 to EUR 5,000 to be appropriate, depending on the budget size, while only 9% consider higher fees to be justified. The average recommendation for the fee level is based on different budget classes (50,000 to > 1,000,000 euros).
Reasons for pitch fees: High agency costs and better quality
For two thirds, better presentation quality, greater effort and the appreciation of the agencies are the top reasons for paying a fee, while only 55% also want to secure the copyrights. In contrast, half believe that only genuine agency interest in the assignment is a decisive factor in determining pitch quality.
Pitch fees will die out
Almost two thirds believe that pitch fees are dying out, predominantly the respondents from purchasing and management. They do not expect a negative impact on pitch performance. 53 percent (of those who believe in fewer pitch fees) assume that performance will nevertheless increase.
You can find the complete survey results here.
