Fifth of agencies have experienced negative pitch process, over 10% have had ‘excellent’ experience so far this year
A fifth of agencies (20 per cent) have said that the overall management of the pitch process was poor or very poor between Q1 and Q3 of 2013, according to the IPA.
The new business monitor for Q3 was completed by the IPA member agencies, based on 137 pitches.
It was found that 10 per cent described the pitch process as ‘excellent’, a quarter (23 per cent) described their pitch processes as ‘very good’, while 30 per cent described it as ‘good’. A further 12 per cent described the pitches as ‘fair’, while five per cent were not sure.
Cormac Loughran, CMO at Aegis Media UK and co-chair of the IPA New Business and Marketing Group, said: “While I am of course delighted that two-thirds of respondents have enjoyed positive pitching activity, with a fifth of agencies still reporting poor experiences, there is more work to be done in order to ensure best practice and to stop the needless waste created. This survey therefore provides an invaluable snapshot as to which areas clients and agencies should focus on in order to create the ideal pitch process.”
Of those who reported a negative pitch experience, only nine per cent said the client brief was well articulated, 60 percentage points lower than those reporting a positive pitch experience, while only 15 per cent agreed that the client’s requirement of the pitch was clear, 53 percentage points lower than those reporting a positive pitch experience.
This comes ahead of Good Pitch Week next week.
On Thursday, 7 November, The Drum is hosting Brief Encounters, an event providing insights from both a client and agency perspective on effective agency new business strategies.