Last month Marketing Beat shared the latest data from the Ingenuity+ Pitch Predictor, revealing 73% of marketing directors plan to pitch some or all of their marketing in the next 12 months.

Here, Richard Robinson, executive director at Ingenuity+, highlights what the research tells marketeers and how they can use the data to better plan for the year ahead.

About Pitch Predictor

It was created with a desire to shift the focus from how agencies performed in the past to what brands and brand leaders plan for the future.

After all, it’s the brand leader who regularly holds all the cards and ultimately decides how long an agency relationship lasts.

Likewise, the choice to switch agency or augment a roster will always be made months ahead of it becoming public, meaning the emphasis on knowing what’s to come far outweighs the benefit of knowing what’s happened before.

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Marketing budgets are growing, but (some) agencies aren’t feeling it

Nearly three-quarters of marketing directors report budget increases, aligning with IPA Bellwether and Advertising Association/WARC, but a number of agencies tell us they’re seeing little of this growth.

The shift to digital-first is clear, especially in media, commerce and content. Yet, to win a pitch, the demand for bold, customer-focused ideas that truly cut through has never been greater.

Agencies are losing clients due to poor execution

A third of brands now cite poor operational discipline – otherwise known as the ability to get work done – as their biggest frustration.

Nearly 30% also believe agency talent isn’t up to par, an 11-point jump in just one quarter. This reinforces an old adage: “Creatives and planners win pitches, but account handlers lose accounts.”

To secure long-term success, agencies must invest in their account teams and treat existing clients with the same energy and enthusiasm as new ones. After all, everyone’s new business is someone else’s old business.

Brands and agencies still define ‘pitch’ differently

Brands take a broader view of the word ‘pitch’, from research-based recommendations and chemistry meetings to quick sprints and full-scale processes.

By contrast, four out of five agencies still define pitching as the full, end-to-end process.

Moving forward, all parties involved in the pitch, most especially the Intermediary, should remember that for brand leaders, a ‘pitch’ isn’t one-size-fits-all, it’s about finding the right, progressive fit for the task at hand.

Appetite for TV advertising remains strong

TV Advertising, Digital Marketing and Social Media remained the top three disciplines most likely to see activity, with the top two swapping places from second to first respectively.

These findings were all the more remarkable because the overall number had risen 4-points from 69% in one quarter and the desire to pitch TV Advertising had doubled over the same period.

Forward-facing

The Marketing Beat article, and the ongoing quantitative study of 500 nationally representative marketing directors, have prompted valuable and welcome discussion, most of all on the need for forward-facing, predictive data to help agencies refine their acquisition and retention strategies as they plan for the year ahead.

Too often, as an intermediary, I find the focus of industry debate squarely on the rear view mirror, discussing what’s happened in the past and who performed well yesterday or last month, whereas in the competitive world of pitching, agencies and brands are only ever as good as their last win.

As brands, agencies and the industry move forward, one thing is clear: success in pitching isn’t just about showing up and accepting what’s gone before, it’s about adapting, iterating, unlearning and building new ways to deliver growth for all.