Campaign writes about a fresh take on the media pitch from Creativebrief and Starbucks

New-business activity is set to rebound. Offices have begun to reopen. Does this mean adland can soon get back to the kind of high-octane, in-person pitches we all know and love?

Well, it’s unlikely, and not just because of the challenges running an elaborate team presentation while maintaining two-metre gaps between individuals. But there are other drawbacks to the conventional pitch process that are harder to disregard during an economic downturn. There’s the duration; it’s questionable to spend four months looking for an important business partner when we have so little certainty about how the business landscape will look that far down the line. And there’s the investment in staff and financial resources, which many companies – both agencies and brands – simply cannot afford right now.

These issues have come to the fore because of the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis, but they have long been factors present in an industry in which both sides of the exchange are under greater business pressure than ever. The length of pitch processes and the resources demanded by agencies are two issues that intermediary Creativebrief has been aiming to tackle with a rejigged approach to the agency review that it began experimenting with in 2018 and put into play in pitches for Uber, Rubicon and Britvic brand WiseHead Productions.

Read the full article from Simon Gwynn at Campaign here