Pitch. Buget?
It is very often the case that invitations to a pitch do not contain an indication of the budget, the pre-selection of agencies being in fact made on the basis of an initial request for an estimate of the budget. I don’t think anybody knows why some make things so complicated. Instead of lots of steps and tons of words before the pitch – that is, a waste of time and resources – it would be much easier to get the brief and the budget at the same time. To top it all off, you can first request to see the budget based on a project indication, not even a brief. The brief will only be given if the agency is pre-selected.
For a successful pitch I think the following simple rules should be followed:
– the systematic study of the agencies and the selection of three agencies that we would really like to work with;
– handing over the brief, indicating the budget for the project, allocating a pitch fee and allocating a response period to any questions the agencies may have;
– the presentations made by the agencies;
– deliberation and the announcement of the winning agency.
Regarding the brief of the project / pitch, it must be very clear in detailing the requirements and the award criteria.
And that’s it. The details only differ from project to project.