• Print
• Email to Friend

Promo agencies call for clients to pay towards pitches

Clients who call a creative pitch for promotional agencies should contribute $5000 to each participating agency, new guidelines from the Australasian Promotional Marketing Association suggest.

According to the best practice guidelines, an agency should not expect any remuneration for presenting its credentials, while a strategy submission deserves a $2000 contribution.

APMA says that a full creative pitch can cost an agency $25,000 to $50,000.

APMA – which represents promotional and experiential marketing agencies – also surveyed its members about the process of pitching.

A total of 75% of respondents said they had successfully pitched to get onto a roster only to then get no immediate campaign work from it.

The top three issues raised were:

• Lack of reimbursement for reaosnable costs;
• No clear pitch evaluation critera
• Too little time to put together a pitch followed by excessive delays in a decision

APMA chairman David Lo said: “We all know the horror stories of where pitching has put excessive pressure on agencies, especially newer entrants to the market, but this guide focuses on what a good relationship can deliver. Fundamentally, we believe best practice involves transparency, not too many agencies on the roster, a clear delineation of roles and responsibilities and the opportunity for all agency stakeholders to collaborate to produce more powerful ideas.”

Link to the full pitch guide (PDF).

This article was originally published on mUmbrella on 28 June 2012.