Rather than taking a broad approach, like some RFPs do, Browder and Cavanaugh were transparent in their RFP process, laying the brand’s out challenges up front.

“If [agencies] don’t address it in the proposal process, then I don’t want to work with them, so I just lay it out. I tell them exactly what the challenge is and then I even get more detailed when it gets down to the finalists,” said Browder.

Lane had asked for feedback on what FerebeeLane did wrong the first time and Browder gave honest feedback, so the agency did its homework and came prepared.

“We were intent on making sure that even if we didn’t win this time, it was not going to be because we didn’t communicate our digital capabilities well enough,” said Lane.

The preparation paid off. FerebeeLane was the first to pitch at 9:30 AM on May. 14 2024, and at 2:08 PM, while the pitch team was driving home, they got the call that they had won.

It’s the fastest the agency had ever gone from presenting to getting the nod.

The win is still fresh, so work on the creative has just started, but it’s rooted in insights that have been researched over four years, with a campaign set for the holiday season.

For Lane, even if the Crystal Coast opportunity hadn’t come up again, keeping in good touch with Browder means he may have referred others to the agency.  

“It’s [about] planting seeds and trying to be good to other people without expecting things in return,” said Lane.