IPA New Business GroupNew Business Survey 2010
STRICTLY CONFIDENTAL
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Research Objectives
To determine the amount of time that agencies
are given to prepare for various stages of the
pitch process
To provide an estimate of how this translates
into time and cost within an agency
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Research Methodology
All new business contacts in IPA member
agencies invited to take part in the survey
Online questionnaire
Fieldwork conducted during February and March
2009
A total of 61 responses were received
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What does the document cover
RFI/RFP submissions
Credentials/Chemistry meetings
Interim/Tissue meetings
Pitch presentations
Level and cost of resource required
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Management Summary
It is clear from the responses received that a
high level of agency resource is being applied to
the new business process
Each stage of the process requires that
sufficient time is provided by clients and the
parameters of each stage clearly defined
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Management Summary
A typical full pitch process takes between 6 and
8 weeks from start to finish, depending on the
number of stages that are involved
RFI/RFP submissions 1-2 weeks
Credentials/Chemistry meeting 1-2 weeks
Interim/tissue meeting 1-2 weeks
Pitch presentations 4 weeks
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Management Summary
Agencies regard 6-8 weeks as being the
optimum timeframe the pitch process
This allows agencies sufficient time to:
Get a grasp and reflect upon client business issues
Undertake any necessary research
Develop a sound strategic direction
Produce a quality presentation
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Management Summary
Pressures by clients to foreshorten or unduly
lengthen the pitch process are not welcomed
Agencies feel that credentials/chemistry meeting
suffer from a lack of focus and direction from the
client side. Clients should make it clear to
agencies exactly what they require agencies to
do at this stage of the process
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Management Summary
Creative agencies with a gross income of £15m or more
estimate that the full pitch process accounts for 99 man days
at a minimum resource cost of £178,000, whilst an additional
£31,500 is spent on “out of pocket” expenses
Creative agencies with a gross income of between £5m and
£15m estimate that the full pitch process accounts for 72
man days at a minimum resource cost of £90,000, whilst an
additional £25,000 is spent on “out of pocket” expenses
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Management Summary
Creative agencies with a gross income up to £5m estimate
that the pitch process accounts for 47 man days at a
minimum resource cost of £65,000, whilst an additional
£7,600 is spent on “out of pocket” expenses
RFI/RFP Submissions
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The vast majority of RFI/RFP submissions take 2 weeks or less to complete
How long do you get, on average to complete an RFI/RFP Submission?
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24% of agencies reported occasions where they had been given 5 weeks or more to
complete a submissionWhat is the longest amount of time you have had to complete RFI/RFP Submission?
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At the other extreme 31% of agencies reported being given a day or less to
complete a submissionWhat is the shortest amount of time you have had to complete RFI/RFP Submission?
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6 and 10 creative agencies are typically asked to prepare RFP/RFI submissions
How many agencies, on average, are typically involved in this stage of the new business process?
Credentials/Chemistry Meetings
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Agencies are typically given 1-2 weeks to prepare for a credentials/chemistry meeting
How long do you get, on average to prepare for a creds/chemistry meeting?
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23% of agencies reported occasions where they had been given 6 weeks or more to
prepare for a creds meetingWhat is the longest amount of time you have had to prepare for a creds/chemistry meeting?
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At the other extreme 54% of agencies reported being given 2 days or less
What is the shortest amount of time you have had to prepare for a creds/chemistry meeting?
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Agencies feel that they are given insufficient time to prepare for a creds meeting
Are as important as the pitch but not briefed as such by
clients
Often used as a mini-pitch by clients rather than
“chemistry” sessions”
Are often open-ended challenges with no defined
requirements and little or no chance to ask questions
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Agencies feel that they are given insufficient time to prepare for a creds meeting
Provide little opportunity to look into the organisation and
the sector they operate in
Provide little time to say something interesting or
insightful about a client’s brand or business
Clients require a high level of detail that requires a
significant degree of agency time and resource
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Between 5 and 6 creative agencies are asked to prepare for a creds meeting
How many agencies, on average, are typically involved in this stage of the new business process?
Interim/Tissue Meetings
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Agencies are typically given 2 weeks or less to prepare for a tissue meeting
How long do you get, on average to prepare for an interim/tissue meeting?
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Only 9% of respondents indicated that they had been allowed 5 weeks or more
What is the longest amount of time you have had to prepare for an interim/tissue meeting?
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At the other extreme 49% they had been allowed less than 1 week to prepare
What is the shortest amount of time you have had to prepare for an interim/tissue meeting?
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There are issues
Agencies feel that these should be a mandatory part of
the pitch process but…
Procurement departments don’t often allow them
Often declined due to a perceived lack of fairness
Client expectations of what the meetings are for need to
be managed – they often expect fully crafted solutions
Pitch Presentations
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Agencies typically receive up to 4 weeks to prepare a pitch presentation
How long do you get, on average to prepare a pitch presentation?
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30% of agencies reported being involved in pitches of 8 weeks or more
What is the longest amount of time you have had to prepare for a pitch presentation?
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At the other extreme 47% having been given 1 week or less
What is the shortest amount of time you have had to prepare for a pitch presentation?
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Agencies want sufficient time to prepare a quality pitch presentation
Agencies wish to be given sufficient time in order
to demonstrate depth of understanding of the
client’s business and brief
But not so long that it becomes a drain on the
day-to-day running of the agency
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Typically 4 creative agencies are asked to prepare pitch presentations
How many agencies, on average, are typically involved in this stage of the new business process?
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Typically the results of a pitch are provided within two weeks
How quickly, on average, do you hear about the result after a pitch?
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Over half of respondents reported instances of not being given a pitch result
Have you ever not been informed about the results of a pitch?
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All but 2 agencies indicated that they were given opportunities for pitch feedback
Do you ever have the opportunity to receive feedback after a pitch?
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Telephone feedback is the most likely form of feedback to be given by clients
How often do you receive feedback of the following types?
Time Spent & Cost of Pitching
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Time Spent & Cost of Pitching
In the charts that follow the following methodology has
been applied ion order to drive pitch cost estimates
Agencies have indicated the number of man days used during each stage of the new
business process
The total number of man days has been estimated on the basis of a 10 hour working
day in order to take account of the out-of-hours working often required on pitches
Hourly rates from the IPA charge out rate survey have been used to calculate man
hour costs, using average rates by department as the basis
Large creative agencies are defined as those with a gross income in excess of £15m
, medium sized agencies those with a gross income between £5m and £15m and
small agencies those with a gross income up to £5m
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For a large creative agency a full pitch accounts on average for 99 man days
RFP/RFI
Preparation
Chemistry /
Credentials
Tissue Meetings Pitch
Presentations
Total
Senior Management 1.88 3.50 2.62 8.88 16,88
Account Management 2.63 4.50 6.25 14.25 27.63
Planning/Strategy 0.63 2.50 4.38 12.50 20.00
Creative/Designers/Hypermedia 0.50 1.75 5.13 13.75 21.13
User Experience 0.25 0.00 0.13 0.25 0.63
Technical Staff 0.13 0.00 0.00 2.00 2.13
Creative Services/Traffic 0,63 0.88 1.88 3.00 6.38
Producers 0.13 0.13 0.63 1.63 2.50
Channel Planning 0.13 0.13 0.25 1.25 1.75
Total 6.88 13.38 21.25 57.50 99.00
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For a large creative agency that equates to an estimated resource cost around
£178,000RFP/RFI
Preparation
Chemistry /
Credentials
Tissue Meetings Pitch
Presentations
Total
Senior Management £7,880 £14,700 £12,750 £47,470 £89,270
Account Management £3,230 £5,540 £8,230 £19,750 £37,300
Planning/Strategy £1,060 £4,250 £7,870 £24,710 £38,880
Creative/Designers/Hypermedia £640 £2,240 £7,100 £20,500 £30,950
User Experience£250 - £140 £290 £720
Technical Staff£100 - - £2,130 £2,260
Creative Services/Traffic£460 £650 £1,820 £2,910 £6,190
Producers£130 £130 £800 £2,080 £3,200
Channel Planning£150 £150 0 £1,590 £2,190
Total£13,900 £33,920 £38,910 £121,430 £177,600
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For a medium sized creative agency a full pitch accounts on average for 72.3 man
days RFP/RFI
Preparation
Chemistry /
Credentials
Tissue
Meetings
Pitch Presentations Total
Senior Management1.90 2.80 2.00 7.00 13.70
Account Management1.70 3.00 1.90 9.20 15.80
Planning/Strategy1,50 2.50 2.60 9.90 16.50
Creative/Designers/Hypermedia0.80 1.60 2.20 10.00 14.60
User Experience0.40 0.90 0.30 1.20 2.80
Technical Staff0.50 0.60 0.30 1.10 2.50
Creative Services/Traffic0.10 0,30 0.20 2.40 3.00
Producers0.20 0.40 0.30 0.70 1.60
Channel Planning0.40 0.50 0.10 0.80 1.80
Total7.50 12.60 9.90 42.30 72.3
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For a medium sized creative agency that equates to an estimated resource cost
around £90,000RFP/RFI
Preparation
Chemistry /
Credentials
Tissue Meetings Pitch
Presentations
Total
Senior Management£4,880 £7,200 £5,140 £17,990 £35,210
Account Management£1,430 £2,520 £1,600 £7,730 £13,280
Planning/Strategy£1,720 £2,860 £2,970 £11,330 £18,880
Creative/Designers/Hypermedia£740 £1,480 £2,040 £9,280 £13,540
User Experience£320 £720 £240 £960 £2,240
Technical Staff£350 £420 £210 £770 £1,750
Creative Services/Traffic£80 £230 £150 £1,820 £2,280
Producers£190 £370 £280 £660 £1,500
Channel Planning£280 £340 £70 £550 £1,,240
Total£9,990 £16,140 £12,700 £51,090 £89,920
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For a small creative agency a full pitch accounts on average for 47.14 man days
RFP/RFI
Preparation
Chemistry /
Credentials
Tissue Meetings Pitch
Presentations
Total
Senior Management2.29 2.57 2.10 5,10 12.05
Account Management2.38 2,19 1.57 4.52 10.67
Planning/Strategy1.71 1.24 1.48 4.00 8.43
Creative/Designers/Hypermedia2.14 0.76 1.24 4.76 8.90
User Experience0.24 0.05 0.10 0.38 0.76
Technical Staff0,14 0.10 0.14 0.71 1.10
Creative Services/Traffic0,67 0.33 0.67 1.86 3.52
Producers0,48 0.05 0.10 0.43 1.05
Channel Planning0.14 0.14 0.10 0.29 0.67
Total10.19 7.57 7.48 22.05 47.14
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For a small creative agency that equates to an estimated resource cost around £65,000
RFP/RFI
Preparation
Chemistry /
Credentials
Tissue Meetings Pitch
Presentations
Total
Senior Management£4,570 £5,140 £4,190 £10,190 £24,090
Account Management£2,670 £2,450 £1,760 £5,070 £11,950
Planning/Strategy£2,420 £1.750 £2,080 £5,640 £11,890
Creative/Designers/Hypermedia£2,440 £870 £1,410 £5.430 £10,150
User Experience£240 £50 £90 £380 £760
Technical Staff£150 £100 £150 £740 £1,140
Creative Services/Traffic£590 £290 £590 £1,630 £3,100
Producers£540 £50 £110 £480 £1,180
Channel Planning£110 £110 £70 £220 £510
Total£13,730 £10,810 £10,450 £29.780 £64,770
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Total “out of pocket” expenses range from an average of £31,500 for with a gross income over £15m down to
£7,600 for a creative agency with a gross income up to £5m
Pitch “out of
expenses”
Over £15m gross income £31,490
£5m to £15m gross income £25,010
Up to £5m gross income £3,713