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Four years ago, South Carolina agency FerebeeLane pitched to oversee creative for the Crystal Coast Tourism Development Authority (TDA), which promotes the southern Outer Banks area in North Carolina. After making it to the final rounds, the agency lost out to a regional rival.
Four years later, though, thanks to playing the long game and learning from the loss, FerebeeLane got another chance. This time, it managed to win the account in just five hours.
The agency did so by keeping the relationship with the client alive between pitches, taking stock of its shortcomings on the first pitch, and being persistent without being annoying.
What happened during the first pitch
The Crystal Coast TDA is a quasi-government agency, so when it wants to add an agency to its roster or make a large investment, it has to bid out the project and get board approval.
It enlisted Chris Cavanaugh of Magellan Strategy Group to handle the pitch. Cavanaugh isn’t a typical search consultant, but he does the job for those he knows and trusts, and he knew Jim Browder, Crystal Coast TDA’s executive director.
“When you’re dealing with a variable such as an ad agency, we have to look at it a whole lot differently and find a price value, but we’re really looking for the quality and the results they can drive for us,” Browder told ADWEEK.
When the pitch kicked off in 2020, Cavanaugh gathered over 20 agencies, whittling them down to a final three, then two, of which FerebeeLane was one. Ultimately, the business was handed to Zimmerman, which had worked with the TDA before and was already handling its PR.
Typically, when an agency loses a pitch, the business moves on to the next and doesn’t look back. FerebeeLane wasn’t typical though.
Josh Lane, co-founder and chief operating officer at FerebeeLane, said that his team left the pitch process feeling good about their presentation.
But after nearly 30 years in the business, he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone else could have done better. Like any agency leader, he’s experienced wins and losses, and when the agency lost this pitch he was determined not to throw away the time and investment put into it.
