Charlie Carpenter, CEO, Creativebrief

"The short answer to that one-dimensional question is yes. But I’d also offer that the question "Should brands stump up cash for asking agencies to carry on with the pitch as we know it?" is barking up the wrong tree in 2023. For my money, the way the industry views pitching needs an urgent overhaul and more significant reconstructive surgery.

If we can all reframe our thinking around agency selection – away from an expectation for answers and solutions during a pitch, towards a process with the focus on both parties diagnosing and interrogating the key issues and challenges together – that would be a major step forward.

The result: fewer hours committed, more collegiate working and early alignment, a reversal of the erosion of the value of creativity (agencies not giving away creative thinking) and a clearer sense for both parties of what the other would be like to work with in real life, leading to longer, stronger and more mutually respectful partnerships – with better and more impactful work.

For us at Creativebrief, this fundamental rethink is a much more powerful solution to the industry’s growing pitch-driven crisis than asking the same question on repeat about brands paying for pitches. Five years ago, this may have sounded like an unassailable nirvana but, in today’s climate, it feels distinctly more achievable and an opportunity that needs to be seized." 

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