I’ve been involved in pitches lately, to some designers the bane of their existence, to other a relished opportunity to shine. I’m a bit stuck between those extremes. Pitching always involves a bit of guess work. Usually you’ll end up in a three way pitch against two other designers or agencies and most likely - depending what industry you’re in - you have a vague idea of possible “opponents” which makes the game a lot more interesting.
Sometimes we’re competing against an agency that throws 20 people on a pitch and present the client with 4 or more fully realised concepts, mood boards, brand strategies and anything else you can’t think of. We don’t have that physical man power to compete with those behemoths - although we’ve won our fare share of pitches against them. Of course, in similar scenarios we’ve also lost some - it all comes down to the client and what they are looking for, but there are some surefire ways to impress the potential client.
DO:
Keep it simple
I’ve never written more than necessary. It doesn’t mean I’m lazy, I just don’t believe in overselling yourself with fluff and unnecessary hype.
Less is more
When you’re invited to pitch there’s generally speaking 2 scenarios: they’ll ask for a written outline/approach, or they want to see some visuals. If they want visuals keep it to 3 proposals maximum. Any more and it shows you can’t make up your mind.
Follow your gut instinct
Usually pitches require a fast turnaround. Brief comes in on Monday, response expected by Thursday. This leaves you with little time to be creative. Often I just follow the first idea that pops in my head seeing a brief and run with it, 95% of the time I’m on the money. One of the few usefull things they thaught me in art college: always go with your first instinct. The more you fret over your idea, the more you’ll water it down and it will lose its impact.
Listen to the client
This sounds like an obvious one, but too often designers get the idea in their head to turn the brief to their hand and ignore what the client wants in favour of what they want.
The next time: What not to do.
June 20th, 2007
Thank you. Thats some simple tips. But its hard to realize and follow them.