An article in Business Week lets us in on the agency pitch process at MINI USA:
The first deviation from the norm came when McDowell organized a “boot camp” for the four finalists: a weekend immersion into all things MINI at a Rye Brook (N.Y.) hotel. There was plenty of face time and driving but the agencies were also required to perform in front of one another as each tried to impress the client-to-be, an unheard-of concept in the notoriously competitive ad world. “You don’t expect the client in these situations to be creative…that’s what they want us for,” says Scott Goodson, president of Strawberry Frog, one of the four contenders.
First, each team had to introduce themselves and create interesting name tags on the spot. The team from New York-based Mother put pictures of their actual mothers on tags. Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP) of Sausalito, Calif., in a nod to socially correct recycling and frugality, they riffed, reused plain name tags from a meeting the previous week.
Then each team took turns answering questions that tested improv skills. “If Arnold Schwarzenegger runs for President, who should be his running mate?” went one game question. (Strawberry Frog’s team was divided between Sylvester Stallone and Papa Smurf.)
They also were sent out into nasty rainy weather to drive MINI Coopers and go on a kind of scavenger hunt for ideas and props to be used for a scrapbook. The book would tell a MINI story that the agencies and the client would all review over cocktails.
Maybe I’m just no fun, but I don’t see how these improv, quick on your feet, ‘oh-la-la lets show our creativity in 20 seconds’ - type contests prove that you’ll be even mediocre (at best) at solving genuine business problems. They sort of take me back to frosh week, which was a great time when I was eighteen and drunk. Now I just feel sort of nauseous thinking about competing for gainful work in the same (metaphorical) way that wet t-shirt contests are won.
Granted, the idea of spending lots and lots of time (weeks even) with a prospective client / agency is awesome - to really get to know each other’s strengths and challenges - actually courting each other, versus the speed dating (1 hour pitch) process which is the norm. But could we all just grow up a bit? I know, I know, I am just no fun.