Marketing Intelligence by Iain Johnston

There must be something in the air. And I don’t mean an ash cloud.

Since February we’ve had one pitch after another, often two or three at once. Not only that, but there are some really quite exciting ones. Briefs which ask for an agency to really make a difference. ITT’s for significant major new brands. And clients who want help with some really complex and challenging communications problems. Excellent news.

It’s a bit like the old days again – constant buzz in the office, excitement around the next key deadline, some very long hours. The odd frayed sense of humour, and some inspirational thinking and ideas from colleages. Brilliant.

Except for one thing. There may be lots more activity this year compared to the year we all want to forget of 2009. But, it still takes an absolute age for pitches to become decisions to become contracts and purchase orders. For a while it was budget paralysis until the outcome of the General Election was known, but even so, the whole process seems to take twice as long as two years ago.

Am sure in many ways it’s a good thing – opportunities get much better scrutiny at earlier stages, making it a better brief, better focused on delivering real results for clients. All good. It can be a tad frustrating too, but then we’d best get used to it, it’s here to stay.