Flock’s Integrated Pitches delight Marketing, Procurement and Agencies

To drive marketing integration it is sometimes necessary to press “restart” on an agency relationship or to find a new agency resource. A pitch is an imperfect process but they can be the best way to review or change agencies.

At Flock everything we do is to drive marketing integration and effectiveness, and pitches are no different.

It is easy to understand why pitches need to be “integrated” when 68% of clients think Integration is the most important aspect of an agency’s work, and 53% say that agency-client relations are a key concern (see a great article here).

Of course, at Flock we have great pitch processes and pitch experience born of over 200 agency pitches, of all sorts, as very senior clients and as agencies. So, we have experienced all the agency pitch consultants’ formats, templates, etc. We have taken the best bits and fitted them to our DEFINE-DECIDE-DO process. But where we are very different is that every pitch is seen as an opportunity to drive marketing integration and effectiveness. We build agency ecosystems, not rosters. An article that explains some of our beliefs is shown here.

At Flock we help clients optimise their agency roster by aligning agency benchmarks, KPIs, remuneration and processes to deliver the best integrated marketing agency ecosystem. Working for both marketing and marketing procurement helps to negotiate agency contracts and remuneration, and put in place integrated appraisal systems, which ultimately deliver optimal return on investment.

However, the two most important aspects of a pitch are 1) finding an agency that truly understands the client’s target audience, and 2) ensuring that both the client and agency teams have a positive and creative working relationship.

We are delighted to share some of the fantastic feedback we have had this year with regards to pitches we have managed for our clients.

Much of the work is confidential and we would like to protect the integrity of our relationships with clients and agencies, so the comments below are not attributed to individuals.

Client A:

“First up, thank you again for getting us to this stage.  Without doubt [agency name has been removed] were the standout agency throughout the process and the clarity of thought they applied was duly rewarded with a very concise and effective organising thought which absolutely reflects my current thinking.  Importantly you were a key part in helping to corral that thinking and we would not have got to this stage without Flock’s close management of this process. Once again thank you for your advice, support and leadership of this process to date.”

Client B:

“The support and advice we have had from the Flock team has been invaluable throughout the pitch process. Their approach is different, they didn’t just find us the best agency, they also helped us find the best solution to deliver marketing integration, identifying where marketing disciplines could be consolidated or needed to be split out and helping us focus on overall marketing effectiveness.  And importantly, what could have been a stressful process has actually been quite fun.”

Top 4 Creative Agency:

“From our perspective this was probably the best run pitch we’ve been involved in for some time.  Throughout all the documents and briefings, the immense care and forethought that must have been involved in preparing both the briefing pack and the immersion day shone through really clearly, and was hugely impressive.  It’s been really well-paced; not too much time, nor too little. Throughout all of our meetings, including our strategic presentation, the values of the [client name has been removed] team have also shone through; professionalism, focus, rigour, a sense of fairness, and a really positive energy.  We found all of your effort and thought really engaging and inspiring.  Thank you.”

Top 20 Creative Agency:

“The collective feedback from the team was that the pitch process – as far as we experienced it – was a very positive one. Overall, it is good to see a new intermediary in the market with a fresh outlook and tone. We felt we benefitted from that fresh outlook in supporting [agency name has been removed] – a new agency – onto the final pitch list. This was brave and helps the industry to progress rather than resort to the usual suspects. We felt Flock understood what [agency name has been removed] could offer against the establishment and tried to focus the pitch on the relative merits of the thinking and ideas rather than on particulars of size, reputation and experience. The world is moving on and younger agencies may be better placed to serve newer needs. We felt supported in this line of thinking during the process.

We are glad to have another intermediary who can operate beyond the tick box approach that dominates most of the market.

Thank you for inviting us to take part.”

Brand and Design Agency:

“We have really enjoyed working with Flock on this pitch. The process has been very clear and Katarina has been great to work with; very professional and friendly. We really appreciated the opportunity to meet the client ‘on location’ to get a real feel for the work ahead and to discuss with him in an informal setting. It was also really helpful to have Flock at the pitch presentation itself leading the Q&A with the client, ensuring immediate feedback and steering the conversation. And finally we love your humour. Thanks for the great pitch survival package.”

So, we hope you can see that we are living up to our promise to build integrated marketing ecosystems! But, we do not just hold pitches (and everyone would rather avoid them) click here to see how else we help our clients

Should you wish to discuss how best to conduct a pitch that will secure you the best scope of work, the best agency for the job at the best price, contact us here