The pitch: Understand your client's business before selling the sizzle

By ROSEMARY HUME*

Twenty years ago lawyers did not have to sell; accountants waited for work to come to them; IT had not begun to chase business; bankers thought selling was below them ... and nobody could deliver a persuasive presentation like an advertising agency.

The industry rightly had enormous pride in its presentations - powerful blends of credentials, strategy, creative, media and logistics - inevitably emotional and often more theatre than business: the creative director in full flight; chubby felt-tip in hand; music filling the room; lights dimmed; creating magic.

But competition was quick to come to those other sectors: accountancy, IT, financial services, law, pharmaceutical and construction. And with competition came the art of presenting.

Today, you can see just as much magic in presentations to win a construction project, an IPO road show, an IT out-sourcing solution or a law firm credentials pitch.

So what happened in those 20 years? Did advertising agencies learn everything they had to know about pitching or did they stop learning?

IT companies like Cisco now put top managers through "presentation excellence" and "presentation mastery", going further than many agencies to give their people theatrical skills and the ability to tap emotions.

Fund managers learn acting skills, lawyers have war-rooms and accountants have pitch teams and critical paths for new-business opportunities.

Everyone is getting better.

So how can the advertising sector keep the creative leadership in pitching and presentations? I suspect the answer is a lot less about selling great advertising and a lot more about making business problems go away.

The facts are that most business audiences are simply too sophisticated to believe that a great advertising idea is likely to be the only answer to the complex business issues of today.

Great ideas, without the acknowledgment of the complexity of the business issue, are insulting. Many people fail to recognise a great idea, anyway. And creative presentation techniques (although valuable in demonstrating flair) are often seen as "cleverness" which these days scores far below depth and insight.

Like financiers or builders or accountants, winning agencies understand what it is that keeps the client CEO awake at night. Focus is all about using advertising as a contributor to solving bigger client business problems or opportunities; little is about the agency and less is about advertising for the sake of advertising.

The agencies that are winning have the ability to demonstrate a profound understanding of the client's business. And only then do they reveal the creative solution.

Others - predominantly the losers - are still selling advertising to people who have more pressing issues.

* Rosemary Hume is managing partner of business communication consultancy Rogen New Zealand.

* The Pitch is a forum for those working in advertising, marketing, public relations and communications. We welcome lively and topical 500-word contributions.
Email Simon Hendery.