5 CRUCIAL QUESTIONS AGENCIES SHOULD ASK BEFORE GOING ON AMC’S “THE PITCH”.

As I sat and watched our ad agency on national television, my palms were sweaty and my stomach was in knots.  Had David Oakley and I made the right decision?  Was putting BooneOakley on AMC’s new reality TV series, “The Pitch” the most brilliant thing we had ever done?  Or the most foolish?

I read in Ad Age that many of the largest, most-respected and well-known agencies declined to be on the show for a host of reasons.  Did they know something we didn’t?  Did we make a hasty decision based on our egos?  Had we made a huge mistake?

We definitely weighed the pros and cons ahead of time.  We talked to everyone at our agency.  Interestingly, a couple of people were really camera shy and refused to be on it.  But most were very excited about it.  We even talked to a couple of people from WDCW (who had been on episode 1) to get their take on it.  They highly recommended doing it and allayed most of our fears. 

For us, the pros far outweighed the cons.  First of all, as a small agency located far from Madison Avenue, we felt the exposure would give us a huge boost in awareness.  In many ways, BooneOakley is a challenger brand and building awareness is critical to our success.  In short, we have to try harder.  Being on “The Pitch” seemed like a great tool for getting our brand story out there in a big way. 

So far, after the airing of our episode, the sentiments about our agency have been overwhelmingly positive.  Many have commented that we came across as very creative, nice and smart …which is always great to hear.  All in all, we are very pleased with the results.  But is “The Pitch” right for every agency?  Before you decide to put your agency in the national spotlight, ask yourself these 5 questions:

1.    Is your agency is run by Dr. Evil? 

Large egos are amplified on television. Unenviable traits like selfishness, jealousy, arrogance, rudeness and hot-headedness are camera magnets.  If the leader(s) of your agency would make Omarosa look good, you should probably reconsider your TV debut.

2.    Does your agency have any secrets? 

Many Mad Ave agencies turned down “The Pitch” for fear of revealing their “secret sauce”.  It’s more likely they were afraid of revealing more damaging secrets.  As Tracy Wong told us after his agency appeared on episode 1, “If you don’t have anything to hide, you’ll be fine.”  But, just like an interrogation, the camera lights have a way of revealing the truth.  And, according to Jack Nicholson, “You can’t handle the truth.” 

 

3.    Do your employees hate you?

This is a trick question.  If your employees hate you, you are probably too egotistical and self-absorbed to even know it.  But, if you go on “The Pitch”, it will come out.  And then everyone in America will know it.  Including your current clients, potential clients and future employee candidates.  But, knowing you, you probably won’t care.

4.    Do you like ulcers and migraines?

Let’s face it, the pressure is enormous during any new business pitch.  But,
if you go on “The Pitch”, the pressures are multiplied exponentially.  In a normal pitch, you only have to “look good” for a 2-hour presentation.  In filming “The Pitch”, you have to look good for 10 days.  In a normal pitch, you’re presenting to a handful of clients.  On “The Pitch”, you’re presenting to a national TV audience.  Normal pitches take several months.  “The Pitch” only gives you 1 week.  If you don’t win a normal pitch, nobody knows or cares.  If you don’t win “The Pitch”, everyone knows …your mom, your cousins, your 597 facebook friends, the kid who bullied you in 3^rd grade …everyone.  After a normal pitch, everyone moves on.  After “The Pitch”, there are reruns.

5.    Are your teeth white?

If not, you may want to have them whitened.  All the TV stars do it.