When it comes to pitching a new account, advertising agencies have been known to lay AstroTurf in an atrium and bring in soccer players, to brew their own beer, to transform their offices into anything from car dealerships to restaurant dining rooms to airline cabins.
A copywriter at the Columbia-based Stern Agency, with Himalayan hiking experience, lived in a tent for two days outside the Jessup headquarters of an outdoor equipment and apparel company the firm was trying to woo.
But any creative stunt needs to have substance, agency executives say. So local advertising agencies travel the country, and sometimes the globe, interviewing customers of potential clients. Then they find creative ways to show what they know.
"I don't think you can get someone to hire you based on the drama of the pitch," said Sheila Campbell, president of Wild Blue Yonder Inc., a Washington consulting firm. "What it comes down to is, do they like you, and do you have great ideas for them?"
There seems to be no formula for how much an agency will spend to win an account.
"What people spend is anywhere from $15,000 to several hundred thousand for a giant pitch," Campbell said. "The truth is, it's how bad do we want it, and how much do we have to spend."
For the Stern Agency, with annual billings of about $3 million, spending $1,000 to go after an airline account was significant. They bought tickets to the airline's destination cities, then sent back postcards recounting their flight experiences.
"It was one of the most expensive pitches we've done," said Ed Stern, Stern Agency president. "It tells them, 'We're not afraid to spend a little money and invest in you guys.' "
The results of the airline pitch are pending.
Before the Stern Agency set up camp outside Sunny's Great Outdoors Inc. headquarters in March, employees deposited a full-size skeleton, dressed in a suit and stuffed into a sleeping bag, in Sunny's lobby. No discussion. No call ahead of time.
Just a note that said, in part: "Don't trust your survival to a bunch of ad guys who wouldn't last a day in the wild. Hire us. At least we've slept on the ground. In Katmandu, Kazakstan, Nui Ba Dinh, Cambodia, Cataract Canyon, Belarus and Tasmania."
There's a fine line between getting attention and going overboard. And with the Sunny's pitch, Stern knew the agency might be close to crossing that line.
"Some of those tactics can potentially scare clients, because they're too wacky, too out there," Stern said. "In the presentation, there was nothing wacky. We sort of backed off from the fun and games."
They won the $2 million account.
John D. Reier, Sunny's president and chief executive, said the skeleton was funny but had little to do with the decision to hire the Stern Agency.
"But the person who camped out definitely had an influence on us," Reier said. "There's no doubt that the tent was in the back of everyone's mind as we were making the decision."
In talking to Sean Krause, the camper, it became clear that he and others at the agency knew the outdoor life and understood Sunny's business, Reier said.
"The others we talked to were kind of stodgy," Reier said. "I just felt that Stern did more to win the account and to show us they really wanted the business."
Dispatching five recreational vehicles, staffed with employees of Eisner & Associates Inc., for a week of interviewing campers across the country paid off for that firm in 1996.
Eisner was trying to win the Go RVing Coalition account and was willing to spend tens of thousands to do it. The account is valued at $10 million for each of the next three years.
"We wouldn't spend that on every account, but some we feel are worthwhile," said Abe Novick, vice president of new business development at Eisner. "We saw this as an opportunity to do creative work and smart work that would take the agency to the next level. It's a national account that would put us on national TV."
One of the East Coast's better-known recent pitch successes came out of Richmond, Va., in March 1997, when the Martin Agency transformed its atrium into a Saab dealership, complete with cars, banners and a mock sales office. Ten days later, it was awarded the Saab Cars USA Inc. business -- $180 million over three years.
The Martin Agency, creators in 1969 of the "Virginia Is for Lovers" slogan, was the firm that covered the same atrium with AstroTurf and brought in soccer players to win the Umbro business in October 1997.
Typically, agencies concentrate money and creativity on making a pitch once they've been invited, rather than to get invited in the first place, according to consultant Campbell.
The Campbell Group (no relation to the consultant) recently tried something different.
Just to get major craft brewers in the area to listen, the Campbell Group brewed its own beer, "Brown-nose Ale." It was packaged in protective crates labeled: "You're the greatest. Your beer is the best. We'd do anything for your business." Bottle labels said: "Brown-nose Ale -- It couldn't agree with you more."
"This got us in the door to all the major craft brewers in the market and started a relationship which ended up landing the four beer brands of Frederick Brewing Co., the largest craft brewer in the mid-Atlantic region," said Brian Stark, account supervisor at Campbell Group.
Avi Dan, executive vice president of business development with Saatchi & Saatchi, a New York agency with annual billings of $7 billion worldwide, says there is far less glitz in advertising pitches this decade than last, at least in large agencies.
However, local agencies probably do a fair amount of creative stunts to distinguish themselves in a competitive marketplace, he said.
Especially, but not exclusively at large agencies, new business is being handled by people with strong marketing skills, and there is more emphasis on solving client problems, he said.
"Clients today need ideas from their agencies," Dan said, "not gimmicks."
Pub Date: 12/02/98