#ideasicle

[pitchtips]

Get The In-house Agency's Vote

Did you know that according to a 2013 ANA survey, 58% of all brands have an in-house agency? Compare that to the 2008 number of 42% and we see a serious trend. 

So it's not too surprising that a pitch consultant recently pointed out to me in an email about new business trends the influence of in-house agencies in AOR pitches:

"[The nature of a pitch] will also be impacted by whether there is an in-house agency. We see that more and more."

Okay, in-house agencies are the outside-agency's reality when pitching. How, then, should agencies approach this touchy dynamic in a way that allows the candidate-agency to strut their stuff, but do so without alienating the in-house agency?

In short, how do we get the in-house agency's vote?

To answer that question, I asked two Ideasicle clients of mine, both of whom have gone through relevant pitch experiences, and both of whom are creative directors of their respective in-house agencies, to get their advice.

Jamie Graham, Creative Director at Constant Contact.

Jamie Graham is in a very unique position, in that he has a long creative-directing career at outside agencies like Arnold, Y&R, Grey, among others. But was also at the helm of Constant Contact's in-house agency when they transitioned from having an outside agency to bringing it all in-house. 

His advice for us starts with the practical:

I think the dynamic which would benefit all is this: The in-housers have the advantage of knowing their product, their prospects and their internal politics. The pitchers have the greater advantage of not being indoctrinated by these ‘guardrails’. The two teams can help one another.

Well put. In-house agency creatives know things about the client that you don't, and, better yet, know things from the perspective of a creative person, which makes their insights doubly valuable. 

Graham goes on to give us the finer, more subtle influences and motivations:

Treat the in-house creatives as equals. (Even – perhaps especially - if they clearly aren’t.) So yes, involve them, pay attention to what they’re doing, but don’t pander to them. Chances are, they would love to ‘up their game’ and whatever is holding them back, the smart pitching agency can help remove. 

I find this insight fascinating because rather than being a threat to the in-house agency, your agency could be their creative liberator, if you play your cards right. 

And if the in-house agency believes your agency is the ticket to their own creative liberation, you are more likely to get their vote.

Jane Scanlon, Associate Creative Director at Staples Advantage.

Jane Scanlon recently lived through a major AOR pitch for the Staples business and so has fresh insights for us. She sent me a list of bulleted points, so let me just post them all, exactly as she wrote them, and then comment:

"Understand that your in-house counterparts may have a vested interest in their company and want to do what’s best for the bottom line.

Weird phenomenon: Inside clients may give more credence to ideas provided from an outside source. Be mindful of this potential bias.

Treat the Agency team as subject matter experts. But offer to provide additional data or research — there’s always room for more customer insight.

Helping in-house creatives look good helps you look good. And that means more potential business with your mutual client.

Fresh thinking from outside is exciting and inspirational for in-house creatives so bring it on!

Sense of humor. Mutual respect. Nuff said."

Lots in that list. Very encouraging to see that she welcomes fresh thinking ("bring it on!"). Love that, and it could mean when presenting the most "out there" ideas in your pitch, look at the in-house creatives in the room when you present them. They are the most likely to get the ideas, and visibly appreciate them.

I think her first point about in-house counterparts having a "vested interest" in their company and a sensitivity to their "bottom line," tells me they could be a short cut to your agency's best ideas. Meaning, their opinion is laced with respect for their business AND for doing great creative work. 

But the point Scanlon makes that really pops out at me - if not screams out at me - is the idea of helping in-house creatives "look good." Not because it's the right thing to do, but according to Scanlon it might get you more business down the line.

You can increase the odds of winning a pitch by connecting with the in-house creative.

Find a way to talk to the in-house creatives during the pitch process. Even if you're not supposed to due to pitch consultant rules. Find a way at the dinner, before a strategic workshop, or even just call them.

When you've got their attention, use them as a secret sounding board to preview ideas. Doing so will do two things: one, show them huge respect, which they will appreciate (and remember); two, will give you a more informed opinion than from a more business-oriented client.

In short, the respect you show by reaching out will improve your pitch and your odds of earning their important vote.

[pitchtips]

Insights. How Is As Important As What.

I don't need to tell you that the insights behind the campaign you're pitching are important. But consider this: every agency you're competing against is reading the same secondary research, talking to the same clients, pulling the same competitive analyses, and on and on. It's possible you'll uncover a unique insight that no other agency identifies. But don't plan on it. In fact, if you want to increase your odds, assume the other agencies will have the exact same insights as you. 

Then how do you stand out?

Well, the pressure moves from what the insights are to how you got them. If your insights method is more dramatic and profound, then the same insights everyone else is presenting suddenly seem more dramatic and more profound. Let me give you three quick examples.

Volvo. When I was at Arnold we pitched Volvo and a key question in the RFP was to help Volvo better understand and profile the typical customers of competitive brands. Now, we could have done a survey of consumers, focus groups, and all the normal stuff (some of which we did). But our team came up with a better idea. The lead account person and the creative team hit the streets of Boston with a camera man to interview true experts on the subject of automobile drivers: parking attendants. Who better, right? They see people coming out and getting into their cars all day long. So we cut a video of these interviews and showed it at our first capabilities meeting. The client loved it, not only because it was insightful, but because we had come up with such a creative way to get at these insights. It was such a hit that this video made it all the way to the final presentation.

Carnival Fun. Also at Arnold, we pitched Carnival Cruise Lines. The uber task was to help them better understand and leverage the concept of "fun." For years Carnival had claimed that their ships were more fun - remember those Kathy Lee Gifford sing-alongs (gag)? We needed to understand how we could make Carnival's fun more valuable. But fun is such an abstract and subjective concept. We put the question out to the agency through my "Innovation Station" crowdsourcing platform and someone posted the idea to "interview clowns." Yes! Clowns were the experts of fun. That idea inspired a series of interviews with various fun experts. A comedian on David Letterman's staff, a roller coaster engineer, a video game designer, a cognitive anthropologist, and others (no clowns, though, we decided they were too creepy). The video became the backbone of not only our communications strategy for Carnival, but our identity as an agency in the competition. We became "the agency who did that cool video talking to Fun Experts."

Stealing cars. This one happened when I was at Mullen, where we were pitching LoJack anti-theft devices for cars. We wanted to prove to the clients that we understood what consumers go through when their cars are stolen. So we rigged cameras in the surrounding woods of our agency parking lot, stole the creative director's car (Chris Poulin, poor guy - his wife gave us extra keys), we dropped broken glass on the ground where the driver's side would have been, the whole thing. Then we waited until he came out and we filmed his reaction. At first he thought he mistook where he parked. Then he saw the glass. Then he was visibly pissed, but a good sport. Just before he called the cops (phone was in his hand), we stopped him. And we used that video in our pitch. Beat the heck out of charts, graphs or focus group videos.

So, next pitch, try to find a research methodology, a stunt, something that is totally unique and that can inject energy into your insights, making them feel more profound, giving your presentation more theater, and, in the process, proving your agency thinks different. 

[pitchtips]

Your Gut Is Your Cheat Code

The enemy of every pitch is time. There's never enough. So, I want to propose something to you. Think of your team's collective "gut" as your own personal cheat code. Here's what I mean.

I often see agencies start their pitches with a research plan. We'll do focus groups in two cities, a quant study with the target audience, we'll do a deep-dive competitive analysis to find the white space, etc., AND THEN we will come up with our strategy. I'd like to propose the exact opposite.

Get your pitch team together on day one and come up with a brand idea. Just do it. Then use research to validate the idea, not to come up with it.

That's right, trust your guts. Your pitch team members are likely very experienced and know way more than they think. Too often this valuable collection of experience is put on hold for a week or two until the research can uncover what are probably obvious, intuitive insights to begin with. Not to put down the planners, but what earth-shattering insights can anyone come up with in a week? I'd argue they'd be the same insights your team would come up with in ten minutes, if you give them the chance. Fact is, there are many, many obvious truths surrounding any pitch that, at this point in the process, you can assume are true. Enough truths to make your team dangerous, anyway.

Now, in this kick-off meeting, have some of the easy stuff pulled - competitive ads, spending, any business analysis you can Google, stuff you can pull in an afternoon - and then talk about the brand, talk about its competitors, throw ideas onto the wall. And don't leave the room until you all agree on your "starting point" brand idea. 

I say "starting point" because you may learn things along the way that shift it, nudge it, or outright kill it. But your research (that you are paying for) can be much more focused because it doesn't have to start from square one. More often than not, your first idea is 90% right, and now you're two weeks ahead of all your competitors. 

But you have to trust your gut. It takes too long not to.

[pitchtips]

New Business Is Your R&D Department

I believe that “New Business” is a group that should be encouraged to experiment, try things, and present in new ways using new technologies. It’s an ideal place to cook up new products, articulations, and research/planning methods. And a team that is ultimately conditioned to keep what works and shelve what doesn’t after every pitch. The result: constantly evolving, constantly improving, constantly increasing the odds of winning.

The world is changing faster than agencies are.

Injecting a culture of “R&D” into your new business group will help your agency keep up with the times. Besides, where else are you going to do it? It’s risky to do too much innovation with existing clients. They hired you (probably within the last two-three years) because of who you are right now. So hitting them with new approaches all the time could come off as unstable.

New business is the land of first impressions.

Unlike existing clients, your prospects don’t know any better. They have no benchmarks for, nor preconceived notions of, your agency’s behavior. So you’re starting fresh every time. Take full advantage and be who you are in exciting new ways.

Then, the stuff that works can be thrown over the fence to the existing client teams with confidence. And your agency will evolve through its lifeblood, new business.

[ideasicle]

"Ideasicle yellow" all started with this beer can.

Our designer, Wade Devers, was miffed that Unilever nearly sued us to stop using our previous brand identity, which included a popsicle icon. So he sent me this can and said, "This is your new identity." It was his way of rebelling against the man. A "generic" identity. We loved it, embraced it, and are now quite obsessed with the color yellow.