Pitch Watch special: What are likely to be the big creative and media pitches of 2016?
In this special edition of Pitch Watch Nic Christensen and Simon Canning outline what the major creative and media pitches of this year are likely to be.
Coles – media
The first signs that Coles is looking to formally pitch were revealed last week when it emerged that most of the major advertising holding groups had been sent requests for information (RFIs).
Should Coles and its parent Wesfarmers pull the trigger, the pitch could easily be the biggest of 2016, with Coles, KMart, First Choice Liquor, Bunnings Warehouse, Coles Insurance and Target among the many brands represented currently by incumbent UM.
Can I respectfully suggest that some of these clients might better focus their energies on encouraging good work from their incumbent agency partners. Few agencies are actually incompetent, and most are capable of delivering terrific work with the right level of encouragement, underpinned by a little more security. Fear is a lousy motivation tool, and pitching (which used to be an exciting part of the game) is now an expensive and debilitating business, with fewer definitive outcomes. The move away from AOR’s and towards rosters may sound sexy and agile, but it makes the risk/reward equation very hard to solve when “winners” may end up with no work.
Maybe try some marriage counselling before initiating divorce proceedings?
really good point Tim but I understand from a contact at [Edited by Mumbrella], [Edited by Mumbrella] have failed to deliver on key elements so whilst you are correct, if the supplier does not consistently deliver, what option does the client have. The business is already lost for [Edited by Mumbrella] due to their lack of looking after their client.
@Christian
Lots of clients treat their agencies so badly they don’t deserve to be looked after.
Clearly there is no easy solution to the pitch merry-go-round and the costs associated for agencies (and clients). If an agency has performed well and met or exceeded its targets, then it is wrong for that client to go to market at the end of the contract just to “see what else is out there”. It is also wrong and damaging for the relationship for that client to force an encumbent to slash their margin in lieu of a pitch in some sort of threat scenario. Quite the contrary, they should be rewarding the agency with performance bonuses and further incentives for even better work. Sadly though, these are all too rare in our market and the upshot is a constant battle to win or retain clients that don’t deserve to be provided the services they demand for the rates they pay.
Imagine the claims made on media negotiation clout when all those vipers get in a room with a client with market power and $. Be some very creative commentary on how well everyone buys!!!!