Weโve all been thereโinheriting avoidable stress because production was locked out of the room for being the "Voice of Doom."
๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐. In the pitch room, realism doesn't win trophies. Clients say they want a budget-conscious partner, but they buy the agency that went totally off-piste.
They want the "big idea" and the "lush visuals," even if that dream is backed by two minutes of slap-dash maths and a lot of joie de vivre.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ:
๐ ยฃ5k left for content on ยฃ200k budget. โ๏ธ Economy flights for crew with a 16-hour shift immediately upon landing. ๐ฅ A team that is overworked, underpaid, and fuelled by caffeine and Haribo.
When we promise the world for a fraction of the cost, we aren't being "creative"โwe're subsidizing the client's budget with our team's mental health.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ "๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ง๐ฎ๐น๐ธ" ๐ฃ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐.
Maybe we stop trying to blend the two. No more disguising one winning idea paid for with 50 "optional extras" over the available budget. We pitch the Dream (big ideas, big costs, no caveats) and the Reality (high-impact, human-centric execution) separately. Show the idea vs the reality.
Let the client choose the chasm they want to bridge before the job starts. Show your creative chops, but also show your worth in the planning.
Something has to give. Iโd love to go a full week without having to remind myself "Iโm not curing cancer" just to survive my inbox.
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บโ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ?
Drop a "๐ฉ" in the comments if youโve ever inherited a "Joie de Vivre" budget that didn't include sleep. How are we actually going to change the pitch culture?
