Looking to cash in on its breakout hit, 'Mad Men', AMC is scrambling to create a new reality show called 'The Pitch'. It's intended to be a behind-the-scenes look at real ad agencies pitching real pieces of new business.
There's only one problem: AMC can't find ANY agencies to participate in the reality show. Securing marketers hasn't been a problem though. Two tarnished brands, Yahoo! and Kodak are champing at the bit to get some positive exposure.
But, Madison Avenue's top players have shown no interest in becoming a real life Don Draper. To date, BBDO, TBWA, DDB, GSD&M, Mullen, DraftFCB, Carmichael Lynch, Gotham and Hill Holiday among others have all turned thumbs down.
Agencies say they're worried about having their creative ideas stolen or an existing client catching them pitching a larger, conflict brand (yes, Virginia, these things do happen). Then, of course, there's the issue of allowing the entire business world to witness the utter chaos that is a new business pitch.
The latter would be my greatest concern. While most advertising and PR firms would like clients to think they have a definitive, proprietary, state-of-the-art new business creative process, the facts are quite the opposite.
New business presentations are almost always an 11th hour, all hands on deck fire drill that sometimes come together beautifully at the last second, or completely crash and burn. We've had classic examples of each:
- For a large technology company, we were scrambling right up until the last moment, changing creative strategies, arguing with one another about approaches and even disagreeing about who should be on the presentation team. I still recall Ed saying, “This is going to be a disaster.” But, it wasn't. We rallied, came up with a great idea, made a superb presentation and won the huge account.
- For a leading retail brokerage company, we were heading to the Midwest for the final presentation knowing we'd totally impressed the prospect through the early stages (a fact later confirmed by the CMO, who said we were “the firm to beat”). But, we were beaten because the final presentation was completely overhauled during the flight and was so jumbled that we ran out of time during the pitch. We lost.
I love the thrill of the chase. And, there's nothing more satisfying than beating an Edelman or Weber for a significant piece of new business. But, there's no way I'd ever open Peppercom's doors to a behind-the-scenes reality TV show. I know I speak for most PR firms (and ad agencies) when I say the process for arriving at a final presentation is a steaming pile of sh*t that is best kept under the covers.
I was thinking the same thing after reading at your first graph. New biz pitches are about as ugly as sausage extrusion (and law making).
Posted by: Bob Reed | August 04, 2011 at 10:12 AM
You said it, Frank. I still remember Foster totally dismembering a United Technologies presentation the night before the big pitch. We appreciated that.
Posted by: RepMan | August 04, 2011 at 10:20 AM
AMC should be soliciting up-and-coming agencies for this series, not established ones. The new kids on the block might be able to parlay some new business from all the publicity, but as you pointed out, there is no upside for established agencies to give away their trade secrets on air.
Posted by: JulieFarin | August 05, 2011 at 08:00 AM
AMC may be forced to cast start-up agencies if the A-level firms keep turning them down, Julie. I'm sure they'll find some who believe publicity of any kind is worthwhile. Just look at "Kell on Earth."
Posted by: RepMan | August 05, 2011 at 09:05 AM