I Got Yer Proposal Right Here

Well Put! "Spec" is an unspeakable four letter word at my agency.

So right on, Peter...I was just having this same conversation with my partners the other day. RFPs are for bullies and is bull----ers, plain and simple. Let me add to the first six points:

7. After you've cut and pasted concepts from at least a dozen other proposals, we'll have to pass on executing "one piece" of the pie for mere pennies. Uh, yes, we do have other clients.
8. Thanks, but we'll have to pass on coming back to present ideas so that your incompetent DM or CMO can try to justify the decision they've already made to use someone else.
9. Your offices are butt-ugly anyway, with cubicles that suck the air out of your employees. How can anyone here make a decision, let alone think?
10. Your breath stinks, we hate your smile, and we noticed you had chuncks spinach stuck between your teeth.

What about the other side. Agencies that don't have the any clue about the business they are being hire to promote. Many agencies are so "creative" that they forgot about how real business works. You are cycnical - and should just retire to the great agency in the sky!

Would that top management at my agency thought like you. Then perhaps creative effort wouldn't be short sold or "not" sold so frequently.

Peter:

Stop your whining and get to work.

If you can't get your prospects to engage in a conversation, then perhaps you don't know how to ask the right questions.

It is tiring to read or listen to the advertising industry talk negatively about clients .

This is business. It is competitive. It requires hard word, imagination, talent, and perseverance. If you don't like the advertising business, then take a job in another industry.

Or, better still, work to change the business of marketing by working directly with clients and prospects. Don't write about it in a trade rag [No offence, Rance.] hoping clients will understand the brilliant thinking behind your wall of sarcasm.

The system might be broken. But, if so, agencies and holding companies allowed it to happen. You didn't just wake up one day and find consultants sitting across the table or competitive review processes that include more agencies than you thought possible or a request for proposal sitting on your desk.

Perhaps clients hide behind those consultants and RFPs so they don't have to deal with people who are too arrogant to see beyond their own navels?

The writer is neither cynical nor gazing at his navel. He's writing from a small agency perspective where your creative is your 'expansion' capital. When you *do* take the time to craft a well-considered RFP it's that much more frustrating to encounter the usual scenario which is: we're pretty happy with who we've got, just need to do our due diligence, and, we might grab some interesting ideas along the way. All of our work has come from referral and low-key networking. He speaks the truth though I'll still participate from time to time and we have about a 50% success rate.

Sadly, you are not alone in working for nothing in the hopes of being hired. Freelance writers go through this everyday when they submit proposals to consumer magazine editors who then ask them to reshape and re-research, all before they'll hand them a contract. And even then, much of the time we get that ribbon you mentioned--that says, "Gee thanks for your hard work, and we really like your writing, but your idea just isn't going to work for us." So even though you wrote that letter to an agency, it could have been written to a consumer magazine editor as well.

Unfortunately, Peter is not being arrogant, self-centered, naive, nor ill-witted. There are clients who do ask for the unthinkable, and sometimes agencies do come forward with everything they ask. But, those agencies are disappearing as it is not a profitable new business model or good for moral. That said, those agencies that give their ideas away for free are probably ideas the RFP company would NOT implement.

If clients want to pay for the ideas and company's efforts, than that's different. But you can't ask (or expect) a marketing firm to give there best efforts (as anything that firm does will have their reputation tied to it).

Suppose you are interested in buying a car. If you don't already have a relationship with the dealer you can't expect to try a car out for a few days and then return it. You might get a test drive, a taste, but not the entire experience.

We are at a point now where companies that send out RFPs have to expect to pay for an agencies work. The free rides are over and have been spoiled by agency and client alike.

Logan –nyob nyob, New York City, NY

Permit me to respond from the media side:

Thank you for including PUBLICATION NAME in your planning process for 2008. In response to your carefully prepared RFP we would like to offer the following:

1: Granted the industry has generally done away with the original intent of the rate card, but we are unwilling to offer a 64 time rate for a schedule of 3 insertions.

2: Based on that proposed schedule of 3 paid ads, at your recommended 64 time rate we will be unable to offer 3 free ads.

3: Also based on your 3 time schedule, I am afraid the first 15% of the magazine is unavailable.

4: While we are very proud of our creative staff, we feel that development of an advertisement which truly fits your client's requirements, follows their creative guidelines, responds to the stacks of customer research you have done, and will, at the end of the day, move product, is actually the job of the creative agency, not the media.

5: Yes, we have an associated website, and we would be pleased discuss selling you visibility on it as well, not including it as "added value" for your 3 page schedule.

6: Our editor has opted not to write a feature story about your client's product and feature it on the cover of the issue with your ad.

7: In the future, we would be grateful for more than 24 hours to turn around a serious proposal such as this.

Bruce Kaplan
New York, NY

With a view from both sides of the fence, as a former corporate marketing director and an agency principal, I feel that asking for spec creative with no expectation of paying for it reflects exactly the amount of value placed on the efforts and demonstrates the amount of respect the agency could expect to receive in the relationship should they be selected. There is no valid reason for requesting spec work. You can tell all you need to know about an agency from their portfolio and from interviewing the people. The only reason for the "process" is to satisfy some other internal agenda, which has nothing to do with finding the right partner to collaboratively grow the business.

Peter's right on!

and then...you send the RFPedia...you receive no final word,,,===except when they say "now that the final schedule is set, the client is requesting Yankees and Mets tickets for the sales force"...nice to know their radar is working...but please increase the font size of our blip. KF, New Jersey

Seems to be quite a bit of truth on both sides of the fence! As agency owners, we really are tired of the 'giving ideas away for free' model, often disguised as an RFP. On the other hand, clients want to be presented with ideas that are truly effective, unique, germane to the needs of their brand and cost effective.

What this says then obviously (and we've all known it for some time now), is that the existing agency search model needs to be changed. Why IS it that as persons who live to create and implement visionary, evolutionary change (agency and clients), we seem to get bogged down by ancient patterns of approach that don't really work well simply because they're the status quo...and WE like to think of ourselves as 'change agents' and innovative thinkers? Doesn't add up does it?

To be honest, the tedious and archaic 'Consultant begets agency contender list begets RFP' model often prevents clients from finding truly innovative ideas and campaigns simply because the consultants are recycling the same group of agencies and newer minds with fresher thinking don't buy into the need or desire to list with consultants anyway. It's really time that the lure of capturing the 'big name' account and the billings that go with it stops being held over agencies' heads like a ransom for the free exchange of ideas. If you think my agency is qualified to present an idea, why don't you think that it's worth paying me at the very least, a basic 'flat fee' sum to develop and present it to you? After all, the winning idea properly executed, will ALWAYS generate more revenue for you than it ever will for me!

There have been many suggestions as to how we can fix this conundrum and many of them are probably viable but with the extremely high possibility that such an idea would have to be presented over and over again before one maverick client takes the plunge to adopt that model and hopefully effect a beneficial industry wide change, who wants to go out of business pitching the idea to everyone for free? We know this problem needs solving. Let's pay each other the compliment of finding the solution and agreeing to find a middle ground that shows both sides respect for and appreciation of the work that in the end, we both need to develop/execute to reach our shared goals. -
Ru-El - Jamaica, NY

I agree with the comments. I work for an in-house creative team and all of my job is working on responses to RFP's and Finals. In fact, I doubt this job would exist if it wasn't for this process. Talk about not getting respect!

Interesting rant about how customers (client rfps) desire to buy expert services, but please use some energy to talk about how sellers (you) want to convince the customer to buy. We all know about the cobblers kids, and that agencies don't advertising or brand themselves because "our work speaks for itself." Instead of responding to the RFP, why not do some creative selling?

Tagging on with Scott MacIver a little...i always think of the 3-legged stool metaphor. You can refuse to play, but as long as your competitors and clients continue to partake in RFPs, you haven't accomplished much.
I think the small-agency solution is to swim upstream by getting project work and slowly unseating the incumbent AOR. Of course, you can still take a run at selective RFPs...the ones you believe you can and want to win.
Kevin Horne NYC

Boy, I didn't know that advertising folks were so angry. As a writer I share your loathing for working on spec; on the other hand, I can understand why a company about to put millions of dollars and their brand on the line might want more than a friendly smile and a firm handshake before choosing an agency.

My suggestion would be that if you don't like RFPs don't do them. You don't have to take it personally.

I've been doing this for a decade now and never once has anything productive come from a RFP. It's a complete and utter waste of time and shows an utter lack of original thinking or understanding about the creative process by the requester. It's 2007 people, right brain thinking rules. - Hal Bringman, Los Angeles, CA

I've always wondered if proposed creative from an agency that was-passed over in a review ever gets regurgitated by the client. Like a tagline, a campaign idea...ever heard of this? Is it legal? Who owns spec ideas in a review?

Call me a fence sitter, but I agree with one sentiment ("spec is the devil's work!") and disagree with another ("and so all RFPs are evil.")

I bid primarily on integrated marketing projects where advertising isn't the primary component, so I'll say right off the bat that I admit I'm in a different boat. However, we've made a policy out of not bidding on any project that requires spec creative and we still manage to pay the bills.

The problem with giving a blanket "no RFPs!" war cry is that you leave a *lot* of potential work on the table. Local, regional, state and federal governments spend billions of dollars a year on marketing, advertising and PR - and very, very little of that work is getting provisioned on a sole-source basis.

Is it exciting work? Not often. But the nice thing about the government as a client is that they live up to their contracts, they pay their bills and they're not going out of business anytime soon.

So, while we absolutely won't do spec in an RFP response, we *do* chase a lot of RFPs and we've worked out a lot of systems for doing great proposals without throwing scores or hundreds of hours at each one.

Thanks for the laughs -- I totally agree. If you needed surgery, would you ask your surgeon to do a small surgery on some other part of your body first, before you decide whether to go with him/her for the "real" surgery? Would you ask your car mechanic to fix a problem on your car for free before deciding whether to use him/her for the "real" repair? -- Rick Binger, Binger Catalog Marketing, Inc.

The key for us is in the last sentence of rant #2. If we can get in front of some key decision-makers, or even solid influencers, for a bottle of red (we favor old zins or super tuscans), and make an emotional connection, then we'll jump through all the hoops like a good doggie. But by then we've learned: 1) whether or not we even like these people; 2) if we truly have a chance, because they will have told us; and 3) if we're still excited about the prospect the next day when the tannins are still gumming up our synapses.

But ya gotta do the dance sometimes. It's good for your soul. Agency life isn't an endless series of exhibition games, it's full-contact competition. Even when you lose, you get better. And when you take down a big incumbent or odds-on favorite, it's not just a great boost inside the shop, it earns you street cred.

That's all the metaphors I can mix in one posting.

...Dennis Christianson, Laird Christianson Advertising, Honolulu

There was the time that our presentation, in response to an RFP, was stopped about 75% into it...TO AWARD US THE WORK! Only problem was, after we left, high fiving one another, turning down other assignments, getting ready to get going, they gave the assignment to someone else. After that, we started to send our own version of a "Thanks but no freakin' thanks" letter. If they aren't willing to sit down and talk, we aren't willing to sit down and think.
Rosemary Kuropat, New York, NY

Truth is - some RFP's are succinct, reasonable and the process behind them enables the agency and client to interact. So, don't discard all RFP's, just the ones that (1)don't clarify the problem(s)that needs to be solved, (2)keep the agency from asking questions and working with the client as they would in "real life", and (3) ask the agency to address the meaning of life (multi-layered strategy, media plans, spec creative, research, timetable and more spec creative) with no compensation. Pet peeve: the request to present a compensation plan and production budget when there is little to define the scope and nature of the work. This is parallel to asking what a house costs. Happy to work with you on that - but we need to understand what you're looking for - a tent or a mansion. My advice to prospective clients: find the agency that has the skills, brainpower, and chemistry that you like - then work through the compensation. Chances are you'll arrive at a comfortable place for both of you - because you've already addressed the things that make a great client-agecny relationship.

I have always found it more scary to win RFPs. Did we leave too much money on the table? And of course the "oh Boy"...this client wants to do this and we aren't sure it will even work because 1) we never talked to them 2) there is very little "real" data to back this up and 3) They are going to want to do it after they knock all of the edges off of it and pass it though 5 different levels of approval. Glad we won...NOT

You my friend, are my new role model.

There are some RFPs that although you do not win at the end are still worth the process: they give the agency a chance to see what it is like to work in the big league and lift the team's level of creativity.

The main challenge, in my opinion, is jumping again and again into new industries, and proving that we know them just as well as the prospects do. It takes a LOT of time, energy and not to mention money to learn a new industry for each RFP that comes through the door. THAT part f the process can lead to frustration when you put in all this 'background' work and do not win again and again.

We started using planners who specialize in helping advertising agencies prepare the background for pitch presentations and RFPs in a very cost-effective way: www.magicwandresearch.com

I applaud you, Peter, for writing this knowing that you'd get heat for it. But that's what makes for good columns. If you think it's bad in North America, you should see some of the practices out here in Asia. Without naming countries, you see all sorts of shenanigans that clients wouldn't be able to get away with elsewhere. And the sad fact is, many local firms play along, which keeps the system broken. Years ago in another city, a potential client wanted an entire plan in advance (I'm in PR) including the actual press release that we would be using for a new product launch. I left this part out with an explanation during the pitch that we would present the original work if we won. Naturally we lost and we were told that we were the only agency out of four bidding that didn't play by the rules. As you can imagine, we do much more due diligence now before we spend any serious time and effort in competing for new work!

What a sad collection of spineless cry babies our industry has become. We whine and rant about fuzzy, cumbersome RFPs and unfair, biased reviews but we jump on them every time they come in the door. No wonder agencies don't get any respect. Instead of spewing frustration into the ether, maybe agencies should start putting some heat on the 4A's or the ANA to create some guidelines for best practices on RFPs. In the meantime, just say no to spec.