Pitching, Procurement and Being Preferred
2011 has been a busy year for pitches – many of which we’re delighted to say, we’ve won. It’s a process that’s always time-consuming, sometimes rewarding and often frustrating – not least because many companies who should know better, are still using procurement processes designed for the bulk purchasing of paperclips and toilet rolls, self-evidently unsuited to properly assessing creative work.
Others are adopting the ‘supplier’s briefing’ idea – where all the production companies invited to pitch are brought together in one room to take the brief and ask questions. It’s like being at a bizarre cocktail party – with no drinks and no friends – where the assembled characters are:
- The Incumbent Conspicuously calling all the client’s by their Christian names and laughing knowingly at their jokes.
- The Regulars – Nodding seriously to denote huge familiarity with the subject at hand but careful not to ask any questions at all because these could help the competition.
- The New Kid – from a production company no-one’s ever heard of called ‘Soil’ or something based in Spitalfields. Naively, he asks very relevant questions, the answers to which everyone else surreptitiously scribbles down.
That said, some companies have put great effort into designing and running assessment processes that are, whilst rigourous, very fair in measuring both production companies’ general capabilities and specific creative ideas. B.P.’s Preferred Supplier’s process should be seen as a benchmark in this respect.
It would be a great step forward in 2012 if other companies adopted similar intelligent procurement processes…having won a place on the list, we would say that, wouldn’t we?
Happy Christmas to all of our preferred clients and suppliers…
