Zach Rubin, who came up in the IPG network and is now head of business development for agency Bonfire Labs, said in cases of competitive pitches, both companies should pull the best talent to show what a combined dream team could look like.

“The client wins, because they’re seeing work from top agencies within Omnicom and IPG. The shareholders win, because the network guarantees a win. And not much changes for the agencies—big spending on a pitch where your odds are 50/50 at best,” said Rubin.