How Does a Brand Judge Your Pitch?

May’s talk on #modernwaystogrowanagency came from Dave Parkinson - a 26 year veteran of Nissan and digital - from IT Manager to EMEA Head of Digital. So what are they really thinking at pitch time? Since the word 'digital' crept into marketers vocabulary the gap between doing a digital project and actually becoming a digital business started to form, and brands and agencies have debated how business strategy can and should link to digital plans. From inside and outside a brand it can be difficult to understand what the appetite and indeed capacity to be a fast paced digital business is. Here are Dave’s key insights into how a brand person judges your pitch: Money Brands have a 5 year plan but marketers have a 12 month budget. People It’s age old to say that ‘people buy people’ so appreciating both the business objectives and the personalities of the people in the room will contribute to the success of the conversation. Remember everyone in a brand moves role every 2 – 3 years so they’re generalists not specialists. Politics Brands have a lot of politics. Timing It’s not just budget that changes over the year, with so many job moves the team you’re working with/ pitching to/ have just been hired by, might change. Be prepared and ask the right questions to ensure you’re talking to the right people.

Author: Anna Stone / Source: hubspot.com

May’s talk on #modernwaystogrowanagency came from Dave Parkinson – a 26 year veteran of Nissan and digital – from IT Manager to EMEA Head of Digital. From managing a digital transformation to initiating the social media plan (and launching the Qashqai on the way) Dave knows the brand person’s world. So what are they really thinking at pitch time?

Since the word ‘digital’ crept into marketers vocabulary the gap between doing a digital project and actually becoming a digital business started to form, and brands and agencies have debated how business strategy can and should link to digital plans. From inside and outside a brand it can be difficult to understand what the appetite and indeed capacity to be a fast paced digital business is. Ask yourself this, if your favourite retailer is so fast moving and digitally nimble – why don’t they have contactless payment in their shops yet?

Here are Dave’s key insights into how a brand person judges your pitch:

Money

Brands have a 5 year plan but marketers have a 12 month budget. That budget is requested once a year and can be cut at any time. Having an understanding of where a brand is in its cycle should guide your conversation.

People