August 28th, 2010 
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Blame it on the recession or not, traditional marketing pitching is a common sight these days in the world of cutthroat markets. It has to be, however, stopped and marketers should take every possible step to research the market, request a quote, and select a contractor.
Emma Harris, sales and managing director of Eurostar, said that the pitch process is a rewarding way for avoiding cronyism.
From Economictimes.indiatimes.com:
The recent trend for marketers to hold pitches for every project brief, as well as running cost-based, eBay-style e-auctions, is causing an unprecedented level of unrest among agencies. As a growing number of brands look to benchmark their marketing performance through these often lengthy and expensive processes, so the argument for a fresh approach to managing pitches gathers pace.
“There have always been clients that behave badly in pitches and there always will be,” says Kerry Glazer, chief executive of intermediary AAR, which has more than 20 years’ experience in the pitching business. Despite many agencies taking a contrary view, Glazer does not believe that the situation has worsened because of the recession.
Some in the industry argue that pitching should be stopped altogether and marketers should do what plenty of other industries do: research the market, request a quote and choose a contractor. However, as Eurostar sales and marketing director Emma Harris points out, the pitch process is a valuable way to avoid cronyism.
The best way out is probably to be taken by agencies in walking away from badly run pitches by encouraging better behavior among marketers.
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