WEEK 40: Pitch Please

If you recall, last week I wrote about pitching to potential brand partner. They had reached out to us and asked us to pitch for a large project they planned to execute within the next few months. While we don’t typically pitch for projects and prefer long term partnerships, we did pitch for this one because the brand was exciting and I saw a lot of potential in us working together. This was the first time I led the charge on a brand, and last week came to a close with the pitch.

I am happy to report that the pitch went well. The team was receptive to our ideas and enthusiastic to look at the next steps of us working together. The next step is of course, the financials. Here is where we often encounter friction from potential partners because many do not realise how much it costs to bring our creative visions to life. They usually are very excited by our ideas, and want to execute them, but at half the cost. And when we explain our costs to them to give them a more realistic understanding of what it takes to create such content, they back away.

We’ll have to wait and see how this particular brand responds.

However, from the very first conversation I had with this brand, I got a good feeling about them. Here’s why:

  • They had a truly unique product (this is very hard to find nowadays)
  • They already had a degree of saliency, and in just two years they were established enough to open 19 retail stores across the country
  • They had over 100k followers on Instagram
    • This meant that they already had a strong community of loyalists 
    • Their content was well-produced and finessed, which meant that they understood the value of digital media and did not simply treat it as a cheap alternative to more expensive, conventional mediums (television, radio, etc.)
    • They not only invested in their content, but also in its distribution
  • They were excited to think of big creative ideas that were not your typical advertisements, and were also aware of the cost of creating such content. In fact, even before reaching out to us they had a clear idea of what their production and distribution budgets were (and they were very reasonable)
  • They were also aware of how much time it would take to execute such ideas and planned accordingly
  • They also respected the value of creative ideas and the resources that go into them, which is why they had a separate budget allocated for a creative fee
  • They were clear about what they wanted and were looking for a team that was aligned with their vision
  • They were very respectful towards us and viewed us as true partners
  • They were open to any ideas we had for them

While these characteristics may seem very basic, many brands that have approached us were the complete opposite:

  • They did not have a unique product or value proposition
  • They were in a very nascent stage of development and did not have their back-end systems in place, which meant that they had absolutely no salience whatsoever 
  • They neither had any official social media in place, nor understood how social media marketing and promotion worked
  • They had no following or community on social media and expected us to grow it from scratch
  • They viewed digital media as a cheap alternative to conventional media and therefore expected ‘viral’ content to be made with no budgets (I should clarify here that digital media is only cheaper than conventional media in terms of distribution costs. The cost to produce content remains the same across mediums. If you want good content, you have to be willing to pay for it, regardless of the medium it will be published on )
  • They have no idea of how much it costs to produce good content. When we meet them they tell us that their budgets are ‘flexible’ and are always shocked when we present them with the figures. We’ve had people assume that our film ‘Rizwan’ was made in a couple of lakhs, when it actually took over 15 lakhs to make. What’s worse is that even when they understand the real production costs, they will still demand award-winning content with no budgets.
  • They also have no clue about how long it takes to execute creative projects. They usually come to us with impossible deadlines (for example, we have been asked whether an animated film which took 3 months to make could be made in 2 weeks)
  • To many brands, the concept of a creative fee comes as a complete shock. They are genuinely astounded when we charge them for our ideas because, as they say, “It takes no effort or resources to come up with an idea, therefore why are you charging me for them?” This could not be further from the truth. Moreover, they will keep demanding multiple ideas for free and will only be willing to pay for production
  • They treat their agency like their vendors and do not consider them as true branding partners (this translates into a lack of respect for the agency’s time and energy)
  • They are micro managers, who insist on having a say on every step of the creative and marketing process, even when they have no knowledge or expertise on the matter  

The purpose of my listing out these character traits is not to belittle anyone, but to showcase the factors that determine the relationship between a brand and their communication partner, as well as the outcome of the creative products they make together.

When we agree to work with a brand, we look at them as an investment. If any of you have seen or heard of a reality show called Shark Tank you will understand what I mean. No investor on that show ever invests in a company that cannot stand on its own two feet without them. The same applies to advertising. If you as a brand are completely reliant on advertising to sustain your company, then there is a fundamental problem. Advertising is only meant to further grow an already grounded company.

Good advertising with a bad product is a disastrous combination.

It is very important as a brand to understand the process and resources required for successful marketing. It is also important to respect the agency you work with and trust them to do their job with the expertise they have. It can be scary to put your company in someone else’s hands, but if you trust your agency you will know that they will treat your company as their own and will be fully invested in its growth.

The brand that I recently pitched to was a refreshing change to many others we have had the misfortune to work with. In all of my history at Humour Me, I can only think of a mere handful of brands we work with who check all the right boxes.

With the new brand, I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see how it goes from here. As always, I will keep you in the loop.

See you next week!

Leave Your Comment Here