If I was asked... \'What Would I Do If I Had One Day To Alter The Future of Design\' ...this is What I would Say. My contribution to AIGA\'s One Day For Design...

2. Why the ‘Free-pitch’ Serves
no-one well
…or…
Why the free-pitch is as bad for
Clients as it is for Agencies
@TomFoulkes
LinkedIn.com/in/TomFoulkes

3. I recently commented on a question posed by one of the
members of the group on LinkedIn.

4. The query related to free pitching and why the creative industry
was expected by commissioning businesses to give what they
do away for ‘free’ in pitch situations.

5. The blight of ‘free’ pitching, or more accurately the expectation
by client businesses for agencies to provide creative work as part
of a competitive agency selection process, has long been the foil
of the creative industries discontent and chagrin.

6. And nothing has changed. In fact many say that the amount of
work put out to competitive tender has become worse with the
value of creative design becoming ever more commoditised.

7. Many factors have conspired together to ensure this – the rise of
crowd sourced design and fixed fee internet design providers;
the financial downturn; OJEU’s; frameworks; most recently the
awful Start Up Britain own goal…with very little coming from
the creative industry to prevent it.

8. Yes the industry bodies (DBA, Design Council, etc) work with
their members to educate, postulate and encourage them not to
respond to tenders that involve them giving away creative
work but this has proven as ineffectual as ever.
And I would like to assert why I believe this is.

9. It seems that this argument always seems to start with
protecting the rights and properties (IP or otherwise) of the
creative agency.

10. Which I wholeheartedly agree with.

11. But it won't win the argument.

12. Why not?

13. Two Reasons

14. 1.
some (most?) clients don't give a s*** about the sensibilities of
their creative cousins…

15. and

16. 2.
In a free market there are always people willing to give their
creative away for free, even if they had previously said they
wouldn’t (research ‘game theory’ if you want to understand
why people do this).

17. Both of which undermine and nullify the argument asserted by
the industry bodies leaving them trying to herd the cats that
refuse to keep the party line when presented with the glimpse
of a fee.

18. I believe that there is a valid role for this traditional argument
of protecting the creative but I think we should begin to
construct what would be at least an equal and potentially
stronger argument over protecting the best interests of the
client. Having been both sides of the fence I can tell you that
free pitching serves no one well.

19. Depressing as I find it, I believe if we construct an argument
that demonstrates that the free pitch is bad for business (rather
than the agency) then this will be much more powerful and
persuasive. The two together could prove immutable.

20. So how can we argue that free pitching constitutes
bad business practice?

21. There are two main elements

22. 1.
The free pitch creates a dysfunction between client and agency

23. The dysfunction free pitching creates is based on the fact that all
agencies (should) record the amount of time they expend on a
free pitch. Fee that they will find a way to claw back over the
course of the work once they win. This means the client isn't
getting anything for free (other than work they won't be using)
and is instead landed with costs and fee that will be hidden in
extra mark ups and over-estimated hours.
This sort of practice at any time, especially at the beginning of a
relationship, creates ill feeling and resentment – not something
you want between you and a key strategic supplier.

24. 2.
The free pitch leads to a wrong or flawed decision

25. The reason free pitching leads to the wrong decision is that it
favours the weak over the strong.
If you follow the common sense argument that the strongest
agencies are likely to be the busiest and the weakest the least
busy then the amount of time an agency is willing to spend on
a free pitch is likely to be greater at the weak agency than the
strong one. This means when it comes to pitch day the agency
with the most impressive amount of work, looking most
prepared and having spent most time rehearsing will be the one
who can afford to do so – i.e. the one who is desperate for work
and has spent the last 3 weeks solidly working on the pitch.
Quality always shines out but it can be eclipsed by sheer,
flattering volume…especially if you're not well practised in
buying design.

26. So how do we get this new facet of the argument heard?

27. Do it yourself
Firstly practice this yourselves. Perhaps prepare a standard
email that queries the validity of a creative pitch on this basis to
politely send to lazy minded businesses.

28. Do it with me
I have a full time job, but any free time I have I am happy to
put to this. Phone me, email me – come to Newman St and
accost me…I will do what I can to enlighten your clients.

29. Speak to your member body
I already work with the DBA on their client advisory group and
these arguments have been built into their best practice and
training guides. Next target is the Marketing Society, CIM, IOD
and The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply. If you or
your clients are members of another organisation or framework
then lobby them on the basis of the above, speak to me and I’ll
do it with you.

30. Propose an alternative
Part of the issue with the current argument for change, is that
there hasn’t been a clearly asserted way of employing an
agency in a better and more effective way.
Let’s propose one and stick to it. With my work with the DBA I
think the approach they propose is sensible
(http://live.dba.netxtra.net/dba/advice), if you think otherwise
contact me and we can discuss it.

31. And so if I was asked…
…that’s what I would say

32. Tom Foulkes has a background spent at design agency before
‘jumping over the fence’ and becoming a client.
Tom is currently Global Head of Marketing at Buro Happold,
prior to which he was Head of Marketing at Land Securities.
Whilst at Land Securities he was voted Design Weeks Client of
the Year in the 2007 Benchmark Awards and is a founding
member of the DBA’s Client Advisory Group.
Tom is a passionate advocate for design and speaks and writes
about the vital role design plays in business to whoever will
listen to him.