Transformation of The Pitch – an article in Campaign – July 22nd 2020
The coronavirus lockdown has inevitably changed the pitch process, so how will the ‘theatre’ return as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, and might some of the enforced shifts in the way they have been run in recent times be adopted permanently?
“People buy people.” Well, so the hoary old cliché goes, and it’s certainly true that in advertising they don’t buy agency presentation decks. But since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, people (clients) have, at best, been forced into buying miniature digitalised versions of people (agencies) in ad pitches, as well as looking at decks.
…Technological advantages
So while agencies and clients refine their techniques, how about actual negotiations? Tina Fegent, a marketing consultant, says that, despite a proliferation of digital procurement tools – quantum computing, machine learning, enterprise blockchain, human augmentation and robotic process automation – all ideal for the buying of goods, they won’t make much of an impact on the marketing pitch process.
Other techniques from commerce could be more useful. “Diesel has just unveiled a 360-degree online selling platform and showroom, called Hyperoom, which is going to ‘create immersive and emotional engagements with buyers and vendors’,” Fegent says. “So will the pitch of the future be able to do that? We know how important the chemistry element is in pitches, so can the technology we have been using over the last three months still provide our marketing version of an immersive and emotional connection between agencies and clients? In short, yes, for the majority of the process. I hope the future is very similar to the last three months with a few tweaks.”