Agency Execs Rally for a More Strategic Pitch Process

Darla Price, president of Ogilvy New York, is reimagining a pitch process that evaluates long-term partnership potential over isolated ideas. She posed to a group of other agency execs that the 4A’s brought together, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if pitches evolved to not be about creative work?” 

“It should be about the chemistry, about how you partner and how you solve the hardest strategic problems,” said Price. “I know this will never happen in my lifetime, but what if all agencies banded together and said, ‘This is how we’re going to pitch moving forward?” 

On Oct. 17, The 4A’s hosted leadership from six agencies—Ogilvy, Giant Spoon, Fig, Wavemaker North America, Joan Creative and Allen & Gerritsen—who broke down the highly contested pitch process, approaches to talent retention and the ongoing challenge of navigating internal and external expectations. Panelists also outlined how their return-to-work policies and celebration of unscheduled creativity play into maintaining that balance. 

Considering the purpose of a pitch 

A ongoing complaint from agencies about the pitch process is the lack of feedback from clients, which they stress is both unhelpful to the agency’s growth and sets the stage for a false reality, as real business relationships are defined by contested ideas. A joint study between the 4A’s and ANA last year found that 87% of agencies find feedback valuable, with 66% saying it’s painful if they don’t receive it. But only 70% of brands find it valuable to give and 54% say it’s a pain to give.

Joan Creative co-founder and CEO Lisa Clunie, who said pitching is “manufactured to be a show,” emphasized the dangers of basing a complex relationship on a structured performance. 

“The reality of partnerships is sometimes you hit it, and sometimes you don’t hit it,” she said. “If you’re looking for the perfect campaign, you can really miss the cultural fit.” 

Sharb Farjami, CEO of Wavemaker North America, added that agency leaders must exercise the humility to protect their people from losing games by recognizing “when you’re in it and not going to win it,” as the process can be draining and thankless. Trevor Guthrie, co-founder of Giant Spoon, put it simply: “Not everything has to be a pitch,” and when every small assignment requires a pitch, it’s unfair and unreasonable to expect talent’s best work. 

If you’re an architect, you don’t build the house before you sell it.

—Trevor Guthrie, co-founder, Giant Spoon

“We do our best to be in a room with three to four agencies max, but even in those scenarios, it doesn’t feel like the best way to start a relationship,” he said, proposing that marketers could instead focus on referrals and chemistry with the team. “If you’re an architect, you don’t build the house before you sell it.” 

Since the pitch process is reliant on a quest for external validation that often lacks explanation, Fig celebrates the end in a way that is independent from its outcome. After each pitch, president and CEO Judith Carr-Rodriguez said leadership asks the team to present it to the agency. And just as success cannot be gauged from the outcome of a pitch, she said creative work is an ongoing process that shouldn’t be understated to occupy a single meeting.

“The real problem solving happens when the meeting has ended,” she said, also speaking to the importance of keeping the conversation going in person the way a Zoom call does not permit. “We’re on round four of creative work for big CPG brands, and I know it’s going to be there and it isn’t quite there yet.”

Sponsoring employee growth—and restructuring talent dynamics

According to Farjami, offering the proper training is just as crucial as carving out the opportunity—while a junior employee might be qualified for a promotion, they may not be ready for a managerial role if they haven’t had the time to hone in on their own craft.

As an agency that prioritizes professional development of its staff, Joan Creative gives employees a “career path workbook,” which includes a list of company job descriptions with their prerequisites, such as leading a shoot or pitching new business, according to Clunie. Mapping out specific qualifications internally turns professional advancement into more of a shared responsibility between the employee and their manager, she said. 

The creative leader was the person everyone walked around and was in service of, and I think those days are over.

—Lisa Clunie, co-founder and CEO, Joan Creative

“Talent can keep track of their own growth and they can use this as a tool with their manager at check-ins to say, ‘Listen, ‘I don’t have all of these things and I’d like to be promoted within a year, so here’s how I need your help,’” she said.

This transparency allows for a more collaborative environment that values contributions from all levels. Clunie stressed that Joan’s culture of welcoming ideas and objections from junior employees came from lacking this freedom earlier in her career, when the right to speak up felt tied to seniority. 

Andrew Graff, CEO of independent agency Allen & Gerritsen, said part of crafting this collaborative culture comes from internalizing that expertise does not always stem from traditional experience. He said the agency celebrates opportunities for “reverse mentorship,” in which more junior employees offer insights to leadership.

“The creative leader was the person everyone walked around and was in service of, and I think those days are over,” said Clunie. “The creative department isn’t the only creative department in the company.”