Pulling Off the Impossible Pitch
Navigating the pitch process when only the unprecedented and extraordinary will do.
Almost every RFP we’ve received at Pretty Big Monster has had a specific client request along the lines of, “We’re looking for first-to-market, never-been-done executions.”
It’s a common enough ask that there’s a danger it becomes cliché, even background noise — but it’s an understandable desire and a totally legitimate client request, and on some level, it’s always part of our thinking.
Making extraordinary moments for our clients requires that we look for “new and next” ideas to execute, because we know the best way to make consumers take notice is to give them something they haven’t seen before. Our clients asking for a “never-been-done” explicitly is just a sign they’ve come to the same conclusion.
That said, I’ve seen it trip up teams before, leaving them scratching their heads and staring off into the distance — and I’ve seen it instantly silence a brainstorming session.
“Big Thinking” Can’t Save You
Those same pitch teams then often try to jumpstart the fruitless brainstorming session by throwing out impossibly large ideas, hoping to “wow” the client with “big thinking”.
Unfortunately, that approach isn’t likely to succeed. All it does is deviate from the initial ask and throw realistic budget parameters out the window.
Plus, desperate “blue sky” thinking — that’s untethered to practical realities and the needs of the brand — can actually burn a session out after you realized you’ve just been walking down dead ends. Not only that, but it may result in pitching a 3 million dollar idea when the client only has $25k to spend.
New Isn’t Never-Been-Done
This is an unhealthy pitfall that we’ve all been vulnerable to at some point or another — the mindset of: if something is new to you, it must be new to the world.
You just saw a synchronized, autonomous flying drone mosaic for the first time. Why not pitch a drone mosaic? After all, your digital agency can coordinate 400 synchronized drones for a live event, right?
No. No, you probably cannot. Plus, pitching something just because it’s new to you probably isn’t delivering a meaningful strategy for your client.
Know Your Limitations
Hand-in-hand with budget parameters and technical needs (like figuring out how to operate and program those 400 drones), is what you can honestly pull off.
A pitch isn’t just talk, it’s a promise. It’s fun to think outside the box, but not outside of your capabilities, as it puts you at risk of selling something you simply cannot deliver.
Being “full of it” is not the reputation you want to earn for your team.
How to Think the Impossible Pitch
So how can you constantly and consistently pitch “new and next” concepts to clients in the never-ending lifecycle of proposals, without overpromising or blowing your budget? Well, it’s not an easy answer. It’s complex, and it does take some ground work.
Embracing Project Constraints
Beyond technology restrictions, our client may have to impose additional limitations on us. We may not have access to assets, film talent for a special shoot, or may not be able to get approved 3D models from an animated film in time for an execution. Those sort of constraints could render your preconceived big idea a non-starter.
Instead of getting discouraged though, you can see this as an opportunity. If your goal is to deliver a fresh pitch to every client and product, then the unique complicators and limitations in your brief can actually be a friend, because they’re going to demand a never-been-done, tailored approach.
Constraints push you to find new solutions, and work around the limitations. You can call upon your years of experience and knowledge to drive the bulk of the work, but working around the constraints will be what forces you to produce the new ideas you’ve never formed before.
Think Simple and with Purpose
You don’t have to go all the way back to Advertising 101, but you do need to return to the brief, the marketing needs, and the problem space. And you need to think as simply as possible.
That’s because the best and biggest ideas are often the simplest. They’re a clever spin on a root idea, and they succeed because — once that idea was identified — a creative direction was chosen, a technical solution was established, and every successive decision perfectly hit the nail on the head of that vision.
As a young designer I was taught early on that less is more, simpler is better, and there is always a way to strip unnecessary elements from something that will make it cleaner and easier to ingest.
As true as that was then, it’s just as relevant now as we hunt for fresh ideas that will satisfy the client’s needs and the consumer’s desires while also existing on the leading edge of tech and design.
And the most important thing to consider when you’re proposing new ideas is do the ideas excite you? Are they ideas that you personally want to bring to life? If not, then theres a good chance it’s simply not the right idea and should not be pitched.
Know the Landscape
Speaking broadly, we’re talking about situational awareness — knowing what’s going on in the world around us as we begin ideating.
In order to come up with and deliver on a never-been-done, you also need a lot of knowhow, a lot of research, and daily ingestion of what is (and isn’t) possible in the relevant fields.
That’s not to say as a Creative Director I should personally be the master of all, but as a team, we each own a responsibility to be masters in our domains.
For example, Pretty Big Monster does a lot of work in Augmented Reality, and the various AR platforms — from native, to web, to social apps — improve and revise their capabilities constantly. (It definitely keep us on our toes.)
What we could have done yesterday may no longer be supported today, while a new technological capability may have emerged overnight.
The only way to confidently propose new “first-to-market” ideas for these platforms is to be up to speed with them on a daily basis. We have to know as much as we can at any given moment to not only assure a predictable deliverable, but to help the client maintain confidence in the execution. This rings true on everything we pitch and execute.
Identifying Opportunities
This might be the hardest component, as I’m not sure it can be taught quickly. Being aware of the limitations and opportunities around you as you’re working — without consciously expending effort thinking about them — is something that might only come with real-world practice.
But, after you’ve run up against those walls or run through those doorways enough times, you can begin to sense their presence without looking. And that’s how you discover opportunities for a never-been-done.
A big part of creativity in the modern world is combinatorial innovation: simply put, marrying two existing ideas or technologies together in a way that hasn’t been done before. This is how we got the iPod (portable hard drive + microprocessors), Amazon (web interface + modern fulfillment logistics) and of course the best known innovation through combination, the peanut butter cup (chocolate + peanut butter).
Being able to sense these sorts of opportunities to bring in novel ideas and technologies in the service of your client’s message is an advantage that can’t be overstated.
Know Your Strengths
Similar to identifying your limitations, it’s incredibly helpful to know your strengths, because your team’s gifts and specialties are what’s going to help you stand out in a saturated landscape.
For our team, that starts with punchy, high-impact design; deep background working with 3D and XR technologies; and a team that loves creating projects that let people play and explore.
To be able to outshine and deliver on your promises starts with knowing what you’re good at, and often times it’s instinctive and intuitive. When something just “feels right” you know you’re headed in the right direction.
Putting it Together
As ideas begin to form and take shape it becomes a team effort to tighten focus and to strip away superfluous elements so that you can pitch a clean, simple, and executable solution to your client’s problem.
So, while the request for a “first-to-market” execution might feel like the time to go big, it should instead be seen as an opportunity to strip your process down to its core.
It’s finding your repeatable process that’s key. One that will reliably generate new, thoughtful, fresh ideas to wow your client — those elusive “aha” moments that unfold naturally, that brands can be proud of, that consumers want to experience more than once and tell their friends about.
