Image by fabrikasimf on Freepik.
When a marketer calls an agency review and asks new agencies to pitch, the default position from agencies is typically “yes”.
Marketers too are typically in a “yes” mindset – wanting to be open to all permutations and possibilities, while agencies are also in a “yes” mindset – answering yes to capability questions and yes to invitations to participate in the upcoming pitch process. But yes isn’t always the smartest answer. Marketers and agencies should feel confident and good about saying “no” when the situation calls for it. And in some cases, “no” is perhaps the best word of all. Here are some examples of when saying “no” is a way better answer:MARKETERS
Agency pitches can be time consuming and disruptive for both marketers and agencies, and an honest, straight forward “no”, can save time, money and angst on both sides.Inviting incumbent agencies
Unless you have a corporate mandate to call an agency search, you need to be very clear why you’re calling an agency review and in particular, why your incumbent agency isn’t satisfying your needs. Inviting an incumbent agency to participate just to be “polite” isn’t enough. If the incumbent can cut it – then perhaps a search shouldn’t be happening in the first place. If you don’t think they can cut – say so and say “no”.Window shopping
Window-shopping isn’t a reason to put an agency on a pitch list – particularly if you don’t think they have the skill-set or horsepower to manage your business. If you’re just curious about an agency’s capabilities – be direct and call them. Let them know your points of interest and be clear about your goals. But say “no” to including them if you’re just window-shopping.Politics
Whether we like it or not, corporate politics can play a role in the development of agency review lists. While challenging, politics should be squashed (or at least addressed) before your invite list gets into the market. So when it comes to agencies and politics – steer clear and say “no”.Chalk and cheese
Fit and chemistry are huge drivers in any pitch process – even if they’re not attributes on a scorecard. It’s very rare that a marketing team will choose an agency they don’t feel comfortable with – even if they’re ticking all the functional boxes. If you have concerns about an agency’s fit or chemistry with your team – chances are you should listen to your gut and say “no”.Cheapest price
This is more than a “no”, it’s a “no-no”. Agency relationships that are forged on price alone don’t last. Services get cut, resources get throttled back and disagreements quickly bubble up. Always look at value and quality of services relative to their cost. If costs are way cheaper than others and it seems too good to be true – it probably is. Say “no”.AGENCIES
While the pressure to drive revenue and secure new business may never go away, there are times when a well placed “no” can help you focus on current clients or other new business that may be better suited to your capabilities.Incumbent agency
If you’ve been invited by your client to participate in an agency review process and you know it’s not a corporate mandate to review after x number of years, you need to understand why they’re calling a pitch and specifically what your chances of success are. If you’re not completely comfortable with the reasoning, it’s probably the right time to say “no”.In over your head
While large clients or complex marketing organizations may seem attractive at the outset, they can present enormous risk to smaller agencies if things go wrong. Some marketers place a cap on the percentage of business they represent in smaller agencies, simply because they don’t want to bankrupt them if things change, budgets get cut or alignments force an agency change down the road. If you think your agency is in over its head and you could potentially be putting the agency at risk – say “no”.Current commitments
If you’ve recently won a new, prestigious client, your agency is growing really quickly and / or you’re working through other growing pains, you should consider whether adding further headaches into the mix is the smartest thing to do. While the increased revenue might be appealing – the operational challenges won’t be. This time round, say “no”.There’s no chemistry
What kind of agency are you? What size and kind of marketer hits your sweet-spot as an agency? These questions not only help define what’s not right, but really help define where and in what industries an agency can excel. Agencies should define their own best fit parameters and interview the potential client as much as the marketer wants to interview them. If the chemistry is wrong or just not there – say “no”.When your gut says no
The good news here is that it’s probably easier for an agency to quantify a gut reaction than it is for a marketer to implement a gut reaction decision. If your gut or your team is saying no, it probably means the chemistry isn’t a good match with your agency’s culture – and “no” is probably the right answer. “No” isn’t always a bad word when it comes to participating in an agency pitch – it’s often saying “yes” that causes the problems. So whether you’re a marketer or an agency – feel good about saying “no” when it’s the right thing to do.Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik.
With laptops open and a lively discussion underway recently, a client asked me where to look on an agency website for the information she was looking for.
In this instance, the client was looking for a long-list of agencies to put before her Agency Selection Committee and with multiple choices in-hand, said client was trawling through an array of irrelevant content in an effort to find the detail she needed to provide context and verification for her choices. In one example, the agency home page was so confusing, the client asked how the agency could even be a realistic consideration if their own site was virtually unintelligible. Wrapped up in some sort of paintbox game, there were no clear links to content, navigation was unintuitive, lots of focus on describing how smart they were and no obvious connection to the content that a potential client might be looking for. So the lesson here is if a client (or perhaps a search consultant – even investors) has landed on your website, chances are they’re looking for something. And it’s not how to play game of hide and seek with who you are. Rather, they’re looking for very high level overview of your agency – not a barrage of television commercials or websites that demonstrate your creativity. Yes, that may come later, but typically, first blush, vital statistics will encompass:A list of major clients
Why? At this stage a long-list selection is likely around clients that may be a conflict and perhaps a search for relevant industry expertise. It’s not about a drilling into creative (yet) in place of a list – it’s just not helpful. In fact it’s distracting.Offices
Why? Typically clients or search consultants just need to know if you can service their needs in whatever market they’re searching for.Size
Why? It gives an instant sense of scale as to whether the agency is too small (or perhaps to big) for a client’s needs. Criteria around size comes up more often than one might suspect. Some clients have minimum revenue criteria, others cannot represent more than a certain percentage of an agency’s billing, while others want to make sure they’ll be a big fish in a smaller pond. Size matters!Areas of expertise
Why? A search is typically prompted by a specific need. In many cases that today that need is often around digital. So spelling out your broad areas of expertise will only help.Contact
Well, hopefully this needs no explanation. But you’d be surprised how many agencies make even that difficult. A specific name, Email and a phone number is typically what’s needed at this stage. I’m not saying this is all a client, agency search consultant or potential investor might be looking for – of course not. But in doing an initial pass (particularly if no agency search consultant is involved, and the prospective client is unfamiliar with the market), then your agency needs to make clients, offices, size, expertise and yes – who to talk to – easy to find. Really. It’s that simple. Please. And thank you.Image by frimufilms on Freepik.
Marketer with well-known brands, seeks hardworking, imaginative agency.
For consideration, successful candidates must be prepared to answer detailed questions about their past, and then many hypothetical questions about proposed future relationship.
Finalists must then share financial history and be willing to sign alluring prenup.
Imagine (just for a moment…) you’d read an ad like that!
While some or all of those requests may be phrased somewhat differently, that is essentially how the traditional agency RFI / RFP scenario can often unfold. Marketers issue lengthy RFI questionnaires to assess the market and then narrow the field based on written responses. Shortlisted agencies are then briefed in an RFP – that may or may not include spec work of some description. And once an agency is chosen both sides negotiate, terms are hashed out and work finally begins.
Under these conditions there has been a growing call for a different, more streamlined – and more effective – approach to finding the right agency(s) to meet marketer needs. And many would applaud the end of the RFI and RFP.
The good news is there are any number of alternative approaches and methodologies that can lead to excellent matches between marketers and agencies. Depending on how you look at it, the bad news (perhaps), is that marketers need to be prepared to invest time and effort into their search processes and to answer some tough questions about themselves. And done properly, the results can really pay-off to create long-term, valuable relationships that reward both marketers and their agencies.
Interested? Well, start here:
Know your own organization
Do you really understand who you are as an organization? What are your strengths and weaknesses as a marketer? What’s your team really good at – and what needs to be improved? What internal processes need to be improved – perhaps even thrown out? What’s brought you to this point seeking an agency review? What does your incumbent agency say about you?
The answers to these kinds of questions will help shape the kind agency you really need as a marketer, while defining areas for improvement and change in your own organization.
Understand the market
Knowing the agency marketplace is a crucial step in condensing or eliminating the RFI. RFI’s shouldn’t be used as substitute for not understanding the market or – just as bad – a mechanism to ‘tick boxes’ on the requirements list.
If you don’t like RFIs the answer is simple: Do your homework on the agency marketplace. And if you’re not confident you have an up-to-date view of what the market has to offer – ask your friendly agency search consultant to help define the market and narrow the field based on specific expertise, while ruling-out on areas like conflicts.
Know what you’re really looking for
Sounds easy – but it’s much harder than many marketers imagine. While understanding your own organization and why you’re in the market for a new agency is half the battle, the other half is being able to define the real attributes of an agency that will make your own marketing efforts more successful.
One of the most common attributes we hear as a requirement is ‘creative’, which is generally just a jumping off point to understanding why your current agency isn’t perceived to be creative (because most are…), and what’s preventing that creativity from coming to the fore. Generally, there’s something behind the current lack of creativity – lack of insight, poor briefing, a breakdown in conceptual evaluation or misalignment of core objectives – all of which might point to a very different set of attributes from what’s initially been defined.
Define value
Another thorny subject we frequently have to help address is when marketers say ‘we’re paying too much…’. If costs are the root cause of your agency review, then the RFI and RFP should indeed be tossed out – not because the search process is wrong, but because what’s really needed is a benchmarking exercise to determine fair market value for the services required.
Costs aside, marketers should also develop a strong sense of what constitutes value from their agencies. Whether it’s strategy, transparency, creativity, thought leadership, technology or anything else is immaterial – but understanding what you really value in an agency relationship is pivotal in being able to assess whether an agency is right for your organization.
Get the chemistry right
Ever read a great resume, then met the candidate only to file under ‘thanks but no thanks’? Well the same holds true in agency search. All agencies look good on paper but only those with good chemistry between themselves and the marketer get the contract.
Ticking boxes against an RFI submission and then evaluating against a specific RFP challenge can only get you so far because ultimately you’re buying an organic set of relationships. Those relationships have to engage, examine, challenge and grow with the human beings within your own organization that you’ve already gone to great pains to interview, hire and train. And because of that, the chemistry step is perhaps the most important aspect of any agency search process when finding a solid, long-term match.
Less is more
Armed with a deep understanding of your own organization, a clear perspective on your key requirements, and what the agency market really looks like, marketers are then much better equipped to manage their respective search processes. And as a result of that understanding, marketers should feel confident in talking with only a handful of agencies.
And if that makes your palms sweat, chances are there’s more homework that needs to be done on your own organization before you can comfortably adopt a more streamlined search process.
But.
Yes, there’s a but. Perhaps several ‘buts’ because not all marketing organizations are ready or capable of walking away from the RFI, RFP process.
Adopting a more streamlined approach to agency search requires considerable introspection in order to be successful. Organizational structure, corporate policy, procurement requirements, international alignment, total contract value and yes, internal politics, are all factors that may determine a marketer’s readiness and ability to move away from a traditional RFI, RFP search process.
Even when marketer conditions are favourable, killing off a traditional process framework could be disastrous if your organization hasn’t done its corporate homework and doesn’t truly understand itself or identified the reasons for their chosen search process.
And in those situations, marketers may be jumping from a frying pan into a whole new fire of their own making. So is it really time to say RFI, RFP – RIP? Or do marketers need a little more introspection?
Perhaps the best reference for agency search best practice in Canada is the Association of Canadian Advertisers guidebook on Searching For A Marketing Communications Agency Partner. As its author, we can help ensure you have a best practice framework for your next search process.
Image By freepik.
As agency search consultants we’re often asked whether sizzle reels are a good idea to include in new business pitches and whether they’re helpful in showcasing their work.
So if you’re an agency contemplating making and / or showing a sizzle reel as part of your next new business pitch – listen-up. Spoiler alert is clearly in the title but hey, this needs to be said…
Agency sizzle reels are typically short videos that combine snippets from various ads – whether TV, video, print or digital – that an agency has recently produced, with a view to grabbing a prospect’s attention. In reality, a kaleidoscope of content that will have viewers questioning their very own reality: Kids savouring ice cream – cars racing round corners – cows jumping over dishwashers – clowns racing through malls with balloons – shimmering turquoise waters lapping against sandy beaches – money pouring out of ATMs – rounded off by lasers dazzling audiences at some sort of mega event.
In other words, an excruciating couple of minutes watching a disjointed collection of flash-cuts, typically accompanied by some head-banging soundtrack – loud, colorful, and guaranteed to hypnotize by showcasing the best angles, while hiding the questionable baggage of calls-to-action in a dimly lit basement.
Chances are they demonstrate absolutely nothing.
So why does anyone at an agency think a sizzle reel is a remotely good idea when agencies would be much better off using their time to showcase well prepared case studies that could demonstrate their thinking, creativity and how their work delivers for clients?
Seriously, people. Here’s why sizzle reels don’t cut it:
- There’s no story. And because agencies are essentially story-tellers – this is a huge miss. Every new business discussion (even if it’s not a pitch) should be about the agency telling a compelling story about what they’ve done – or better yet – telling a compelling story for what they can do for their potential client. And sizzle reels don’t tell stories – they’re a collection of jumbled messages.
- There’s no context. There’s not an agency out there that doesn’t like to tee-up a concept or piece of creative before sharing it with their clients. That’s because creative typically requires context so it’s not just some random message out of left field. And sizzle reels are about as contextless and left field as you can get.
- There’s no strategy. Most agencies we know pride themselves in their thinking and their ability to demonstrate meaningful insights as a means to developing powerful creative. Sizzle reels by their very nature can’t explain any of the strategy or insights which therefore diminishes the resulting messages, and all but eradicates the thought process that went into what was shown.
- Creativity is diminished. Because there’s no upfront context or strategy, creative has to work that much harder to be showcased and understood. And the reality is the creative itself has to be chopped up into little pieces and edited next to another chopped up little snippet from another product, service or brand that bears no relation to the one preceding or following.
Sizzle reels are the disco balls of the advertising world. All shiny and spinning – like client meetings on fast-forward, packed with stock footage, buzzwords, and enough jump cuts to give an epileptic squirrel a seizure.
Believe me. Every moment of a new business discussion is precious. Use them wisely and tell whatever story you want to tell in the most compelling ways possible. Please don’t throw random parts of a story into an indecipherable collage where thoughtful strategy and tangible results don’t matter, in the vague hope your prospects will make unimaginable connections about the effectiveness of your agency. Because they won’t.
Yes, the sixth annual Canadian Agency Pitch Report is ready – and let’s just say it’s an eye-opener with a stratospheric 195% increase in pitches over 2021!
With the help of a fantastic network of marketers, clients, agencies, industry friends and colleagues, we tracked 124 Canadian agency pitches during 2022. And while our efforts may never be entirely complete, the report provides an exclusive window into Canadian new business across AOR, Media, Digital, PR and Multicultural agency pitches.
This year we’ve ranked agencies by number of wins, provided some additional perspective on big six holding company wins versus independent agencies, as well as providing our regular summary of pitches by name and vertical, together with the agencies that won.

While there are various US and global reports out there, there’s nothing that offers this level of detail specifically for the Canadian market. So we hope the report again provides the industry – and Canadian agencies in particular – with an overview of the buoyancy of the Canadian agency pitch market, while providing insight on the most and least active sectors year over year.
One point I wanted to address this year were the number of requests for the dollar value of pitches to be included in the report. We heard you and like all those who asked, we’d love to have included this, but getting that information without it being the widest of ranges has been an all but impossible task without sources risking their respective confidentiality or other non-disclosure agreements.
My thanks to everyone who helped keep us up-to-date over the past year and a special thank you to my friends and industry colleagues who provided input into the construct of the document, together with your suggestions for additional content in years to come.
To order your copy or discuss the report, please contact me directly, or click here to order online.
Photo: Adobe stock image
Image by jannoon028 on Freepik.
It’s an interesting warning: “Careful what you wish for – you might just get it…” . Not just because of the threat that all your dreams coming true may turn into your nightmare, but because for many agencies it is often realized. As part of the DNA of any new agency, there is a desire to grow. One of the fastest ways to grow is to win the business of a major advertiser. But winning big accounts has consequences for the agency, the staff and ultimately the clients.
While we all love to read about the growth of an indie agency startup, the truth is that managing the growth of an agency is a delicate process. And having your dream of massive revenue growth come true with the appointment as an agency of record for a major advertiser is definitely the fast track to growth, but it also poses the most risk. Let’s look at a few of the major implications and considerations for an agency that is biting off the big account.The change in agency personnel
The first big challenge is having the resources to service the account. It amazes me how often marketers will ask to meet the agency team who will be managing their account, if the agency is successful. At its most obvious it assumes that the agency has these people on staff and ready to go for when a large client walks through the door. But as we have seen, when a medium-size agency lands a massively big client it can mean they need to recruit 50-100% or more of the current staff at the agency. Managing a big insurance company tender, I had agencies with as few as ten people contacting me when the tender leaked to the trade media, begging to be included. When I asked their size, they told me, and I would respond that winning this account could increase their size tenfold. This got the agency excited and got me nervous. The risks associated with this are enormous – recruiting new staff, potentially new offices, equipment, furniture and everything else. Now, all of this can be achieved with enough money, but I am yet to find too many clients willing to fund agency growth. And without this funding, the chances of managing this massive growth in employee size increases exponentially the risk of something going wrong.The change in agency culture
Managing growth also poses a risk to agency culture. The people and the leadership in the agency largely define the culture of the organisation. This culture is often what attracts like-minded staff and clients. But what happens when in response to a huge client win you find yourself with an influx of people into the agency? Great talent is hard to find at the best of times, but with the urgency of simply getting people on board to handle the client business, the selection process can break down. Often there is a group of people let go from the agency that did have the account, and they follow it across to the new agency. Or the agency resorts to filling positions with a rotating roster of freelancers as a stopgap that somehow becomes permanent. But it is not just the employees who set the cultural tone of the agency. Clients and their organisations have cultures too. Often highly successful growing agencies have attracted clients who appreciate the agency culture and find alignment. But suddenly, there is a massive client on the agency wall, and they demand the attention and the service, and their corporate culture begins to influence the agency.The change in client service
It is not uncommon for existing smaller clients of the agency to feel conflicted during these times. On one hand, they are happy for the agency and the success they are enjoying, yet at the same time feel threatened that they will no longer enjoy the same status with the agency in the shadow of this new, behemoth of a client. This feeling can be exacerbated by the fact that it is common for the agency leadership to take a very hands-on approach with their new client. Their time and attention is directed elsewhere during the honeymoon period and incumbent clients feel that they are now lower on the agency’s list of priorities. It can even impact day-to-day account management, as often the agency will take their best and brightest account management people off existing accounts to work on the new, big client. Part of this is because the agency created the expectation of who would be working on the account during the pitch, and there is a desire to minimise the risk of mistakes by an account service team new to the agency.The change in market desirability
While winning a large account is great publicity for the agency and will attract attention, a problem arises if this becomes the only large account the agency wins. There are a significant number of agencies that have become known for their largest account. The advertiser and their profile have the ability to position the agency in such a way that the other clients have become secondary and irrelevant. An agency known for its largest client becomes known as that client’s agency. It is as if they become an extension of the advertiser’s marketing department. The best way to counter this is to continue to win further large pieces of business and prove it was not a one-trick wonder. The problem with this single client positioning is it becomes perceived that the agency somehow specialises in that category of advertising alone – for instance automotive, financial services, or alcoholic beverages. This means that advertisers in that category will not come near you because of conflict, and advertisers outside that category think you are a specialist in a category with skill sets they do not need.The exposure to the fatal blow
There is a saying that any agency is just two phone calls away from disaster. Two clients walk and suddenly the agency is no longer financially viable. Perhaps, today it should be two emails away because I have noticed more clients are informing their agencies of their departure by sending a contract termination letter first. But things are even more precarious for an agency with one oversized client on the roster. If that one client decides to leave it is very hard to downsize and stay in business. Often the loss of this major client creates a smell of failure around the agency and a sense of desperation within the management team. But more often it is the fact that having scaled up, because all it takes is money, the same is true for scaling down – it costs money.Then what to do?
As the saying goes, when you bite off more than you can chew, chew like hell and try not to choke. And then keep biting and chewing. Because as you see, the first skill you will refine is recruiting staff – good staff. Never easy, but an essential skill. Plus, you need to onboard people really well. And you need an outstanding account management team to ensure when you are winning big clients you are keeping the current clients happy. And finally, once you have won your first really big client, do not stop there. Once you have them settled in, go and win your next big one and then another and another. One major client does not make the agency. For advertisers, the lesson is, when you are choosing an agency to grow with your business, you need to also make sure they know how to grow.It’s been a familiar call over the years: “Hey, the market seems really quiet at the moment…” or “are you aware of what pitches are going on out there…?” or “have you heard which agency won the – insert client name – business?”
So, four years ago, with the help of a fantastic network of marketers, clients, agencies, industry friends and colleagues, we started tracking as many Canadian agency pitches as we could. And while our efforts can never be entirely complete, we are releasing the first ever Canadian Agency Pitch Report, summarizing Canadian agency pitches.
The 30-page report details activity from 2017 to 2020 and delineates between Creative AOR, Media, Digital and PR pitches. It also identifies companies by name and vertical, as well as winning agency(s).

Unless we’re missing something, the data doesn’t seem to exist in a single location anywhere else. And while there are various US and global reports out there, there’s nothing else that offers this level of detail specifically for the Canadian market.
We hope the report provides the industry – and Canadian agencies in particular – with an overview of the buoyancy of the Canadian agency pitch market, while providing insight on the most and least active sectors year over year.
Key findings contained in the report include the significant increase in independent agency wins over the last four years – up approximately 17% since 2017 to take 77% of the win rate versus the big six holding companies. And this past year we saw a 12% decline in the total number of pitches identified in 2020 compared to the previous year, pointing to the impact of COVID-19 on the Canadian market.
My thanks to everyone who helped keep us up-to-date over the past four years – particularly last year which has been so difficult for everyone. And a special thank you to my friends and industry colleagues who provided input into the construct of the document, together with your suggestions for additional content in years to come.
To discuss the report, or to order your own copy, please contact me directly, or click here to order online.