The pitch nonsense

What this is about: Since I have been working in advertising and am now writing about it, there have always been competitive tenders. As the younger generation of advertisers confirms to me, this custom has not diminished. On the contrary. Today, even pitches, as the nonsense is called, are put out to tender, in which the advertising agency has to cede the copyright for its creative work from the outset.

CHF 10,000 to a maximum of CHF 15,000 is paid for a presentation. However, the agency that responds to such a pitch produces an effort and external costs that would theoretically cost 50,000. The best creatives, the most attractive consultant, the CEO, external market research institutes, media specialists and even film productions are called in for the presentation. Once the agency feels that it has found an ingenious advertising idea that is effective for presentation, it needs two more alternatives so that the client committee (CEO, marketing and advertising manager, their assistants and sometimes also the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the CFO) have something to shoot at this presentation show. If you also shoot a pilot commercial, the costs increase again. If, as is increasingly the case, a German agency flies in with eight people, it costs less because the Germans present themselves for free.

My theory: If this presentation carousel worked, we would have better advertising in all media and I could bury my mothball idea. I think this effort is uneconomical, inefficient and unwise. Nowadays, any advertiser could find out everything about an agency via the Internet. They can even find out about the chemistry with the advertisers using the agency's own presentation. So why waste so much time and money on competing presentations? The client and agency work together to develop a clever briefing, create an attentive and entertaining implementation and, if possible, run the advertising idea for many years. In any case, the most successful advertising is the long-term one and the one that stays with the same agency.

I know that there are professional colleagues who don't get involved in this pitch nonsense. They use their creative thoughts for their existing clients and not for unprofessional marketing advertising helpers. Finally, this truth: once the pitch is won, the agency delegates the support to a second guard. Even the attractive consultant is no longer involved. The client cuts the budget and worsens the basic idea. Only losers on both sides.

My pick of the week is that, according to my research, more and more advertisers no longer want to take part in such nonsense. Your word of honor!