5. London Zoo
The account team dressed up as animals to impress the client (not sure how true this is)!
6. Dr Pepper
The agency positioned a London black cab in the reception with Dr Pepper Logos all over it for the pitch. Obviously, the agency won!
7. British Rail
The Client was left waiting in a room decorated as a ‘typical’ British Rail waiting room littered with fag ends, empty cans and rubbish, and made to wait, and wait and wait! Finally the Account Manager came down and said, “Now you know how your customers feel!”
8. Avia Sports Shoe
Having lost the Hi –Tech sports shoe business, the agency team sent an old pair of Hi – Tech sports shoes to the prospective client with a witty rhyming tag attached saying something along the lines of, “As you can see, we need some new shoes”. The client supposedly wrote back ‘I had entrusted you guys to keep the shoes in good shape.’ Obviously, the agency did not retain the business.
9. Chewits
The agency set up a group of children from local schools as a ‘Junior’ Team of that Agency (wearing junior Team Agency T-shirts) who had painted their idea of what the ‘Chewits Monster’ looked like. The drawings were displayed on screens in the reception area, and the client surrounded by children and balloons had to judge which was the best. However, they still didn’t win the account.
10. British Steel
The agency presented work to the client which would never be approved or appreciated by the client. The account director phoned the client later that same day and said, with profuse apologies, that the wrong work had been presented, and asking if “we could show the correct work” the following day. The client agreed, and overnight a new campaign was put together. They won the business.
11. British Fuel
An Account executive overheard a train conversation between two men, discussing the need to appoint an advertising agency. He had no idea who the client was or what they were talking about but saw which station they got off at. When he got back to the agency, he told his account director who tracked down all the big business within that area and finally got through to British Fuel who were, indeed, looking for an agency. Invited to pitch, the agency won the business.
12. Pepcid
When the agency pitched for Pepcid heartburn cure the team was at a loss and couldn’t decide how to present the idea. They spent the weekend before the pitch eating and drinking all the bad foods that the brand recommended avoiding and then followed up the meal by doing all the things they shouldn't such as strenuous exercises. All of them got heart burn and they then tried different drugs to cure it. One poor guy was kept under observation and "control” and not allowed any drugs. Each of them kept a minute by minute diary recording their experiences...the client loved this and gave them the business.
13. Flymo (Black & Decker)
The agency that handled the Flymo account was told by the client that he was going to pitch for the account. The agency requested him to allow them to pitch internally and if he wasn't happy at the end he could pitch it out. They created 3 separate and competitive pitch teams and made 3 presentations to the client. Expectedly, they kept the business.
There would be many more instances that showed that the pitch for a client’s business can begin way before and can end way after the day of the presentation. While the content of the presentation is exceedingly important, the other challenge really is to exhibit the hunger and passion in a novel way.
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