Was there ever a business like advertising that spends so long noisily fretting about how awful it’s become but then doubles down on the awfulness?
Bugbear du jour is pitching so The Great Pitch company has been looking into it, with a survey of 134 new biz professionals who don’t seem very happy.
1). 80.6% said the pressure of business development and pitching had made them seriously consider changing jobs.
2). 73.13% said they had considered leaving the advertising or communications industry altogether because of business development and pitching-related stress.
3). 70.15% said they, or someone they know, had taken sick leave or become ill due to stress caused by pitching or new business demands.
4). 73.13% agreed that clients are becoming more demanding or unreasonable in their pitch requests, while 60.45% have seen an increase in short-turnaround pitch tasks such as 48-hour briefs.
5). Weekend working remains commonplace, with 42.54% saying they are always or often expected to work weekends during pitches. Among agencies with pitch conversion rates between 33% and 66%, this rises to 50.60%.
6). 84.33% agreed that positive mental wellbeing is key to delivering a successful pitch, reinforcing the link between people, performance and commercial success.
And there’s more: AI doesn’t seem to be leading to unconfined joy either.
GPC founder and CEO Marcus Brown says: “Pitching is often described as the lifeblood of an agency, and of course new business is essential to growth. But if the pressure of business development and pitching is making 80.6% of respondents seriously consider changing jobs, and almost three quarters consider leaving the industry altogether, then we have to ask whether the current model is sustainable.
“Agencies cannot continue to rely on the blood, sweat and tears of their people to fuel growth. Business development needs to be better qualified, better resourced and better led, even if that means having more honest conversations about margin, capacity and the real cost of pitching.
“This is no longer just a new business issue. It is a leadership issue, a wellbeing issue and a talent retention issue. If the industry wants to keep its best people, it needs to stop romanticising pitch pressure and start designing healthier, smarter and more effective ways to win.”
There’s a simple answer of course: if what you’re doing is driving you nuts, don’t do it. Numerous agencies including some famous ones like BBH, have started life saying they won’t do full pitches but nearly always give way. It only takes one big client to say: “it’s in the bag guys but just jump through these hoops and it’s yours.”
Some might see this as a business all at sea.
