Over the past few weeks, numerous leaders have voiced their opinions to Campaign Middle East that the industry – brands, agency powerhouses, as well as independent organisations working under the awning of brand-building, marketing, advertising, and communications – need to come together and sort out the challenges faced around the pitching process.
While some have pointed to the lack of clear briefs, others have pointed to unreasonable deadlines, inconsistent – or the complete lack of – feedback, as well as RFPs completely falling through the cracks into oblivion, despite manhours in weeks being spent on pitches.
With the growing ‘supply’ of a specialised agencies – focusing specifically on digital, growth, creative, advertising, performance, social media, personal branding, and more – coupled with the fact that brands are getting a lot more attentive to measurement, ROI, and performance, RFPs have been flying out left, right, and centre, according to industry leaders.
What’s made this increasingly frustrating is that this is not a new problem. It’s been around for many months, and is only getting worse with ideas “being borrowed” and results of tenders not being announced.
Campaign Middle East asked leaders of independent agencies for their comments on what specific parts of the RFP and pitching process – if any – are still challenging.
“Agencies often struggle with unclear briefs, unreasonable timelines, and inconsistent feedback. Shopping around being the worst – for ideas and for approaches, as well as costs. In addition, the problem often lies in a lack of a proper due diligence process from clients, who often blanket mail a load of agencies,” said Sawsan Ghanem, Joint Managing Director, Active DMC.
Meanwhile, Alok Gadkar, CEO and CCO at Tuesday Communications, stated that the real problem in the RFPs are that the goals and objectives aren’t clearly mapped out.
“Pitches are just like going to the gym. Be clear about your goals and you’ll come out looking better. Otherwise, it’s a pointless, sweaty undertaking,” Gadkar said.
Joe Lipscombe, Partner, The Romans, shared a slightly different contextual perspective.
“It’s simply a question of certainty. The higher the uncertainty the tougher it is. This can be applied to answering the brief, creating a competitive commercial proposal, developing strong ideas, or even pitch casting. What great brands do well is reduce the uncertainty for agencies, which helps bring the best out of them in pitch. When agencies can thoroughly understand the expectations, commercially and technically, they produce better work,” Lipscombe said.
When asked about what needs to be changed and what can be done better, Tuesday Communications’ Gadkar said, “The Scope of Work in most cases is random or copied from some past RFP. The SOW impacts team structure and financials directly. Clients must stop using the ‘About Us’ page on their website for business introductions. Narrate the story. And, finally, stop inviting 20 agencies. Just only speak to the relevant ones.”
Active DMC’s Ghanem added, “In my opinion, it’s a reasonable ask for agencies to request for clearer briefs and well-defined timelines, as well as clarifications on further questions regarding the pitch brief and the budgets involved. These key details are essential for all involved to deliver a strong and tailored proposal that is well aligned to the pitch and client expectations.”
The Romans’ Joe Lipscombe echoed some of these thoughts, while advising a slightly different approach.
Lipscombe said, “I don’t think agencies should be demanding anything. Every opportunity to pitch for business is a privilege. Having said that, there are considerations that need to be made, particularly when 99 per cent of pitching is unpaid.
“Firstly, I think brands should always run tissue sessions and then shortlist competing agencies. I’ve been in pitches with 12+ bidders and the amount of time, money, and work wasted helps nobody,” he added. “Secondly, this would allow brands to offer more feedback post-pitch. Any feedback is a bonus, and we get that it doesn’t benefit the brand. But the positive impact on the agency is huge—perhaps we aren’t clear enough about that.”
Tuesday Communications’ Gadkar was a tad bit more candid and precise in his response.
Gadkar said, “Currently, pitches are just RFP and submission. This process needs to expand into a pre-RFP meeting, RFP, discussion, chemistry check, submission, and finally, if relevant, award of the tender. Submitting PPT decks just won’t do, and I’ll tell you why. Only one part of the pitch is the work. The other equally important part is the new relationship you will be getting into. You can’t figure this out from just exchanging pdf and word files.”
Gadkar added, “Let’s please bring back face-to-face conversations. Let’s walk into meetings with a genuine interest in meeting the right people, getting to know the brand and agency culture. Post-Covid, in person meetings have drastically decreased. Right now, clients and agencies are willing to make do with Teams and Zoom calls. This needs to go away. We don’t want a poor work pandemic, do we?”
The Romans’ Lipscombe summed it up nicely with similar thoughts, “We’ve felt, particularly post-pandemic, that too much is reserved for email, which weakens the overall connection, reduces mutual understanding, and creates a level of apathy on both sides. This, in our industry, feels like a huge waste. At pitch stage this is tricky, particularly when it comes to fairness and procurement policies.
“I don’t think it would hurt to have brands and agencies connect in a neutral setting on this topic. It’s often positioned that agencies need the pitch process to improve, but I can only imagine that brands frequently feel they’re not getting what they want from the process either. And going to pitch, particularly on a retainer, is expensive and disruptive,” Lipscombe concluded.
