We don’t offer free Creative Work For Pitches

Here’s why we don’t provide free pitch creative:

No professional firm worth the name gives away work free. We’re no different. We can’t treat design concepts as ‘loss leaders’ against future income. We believe design is something companies should invest in, just as they do in sales or marketing. Design created for a pitch isn’t necessarily right: it’s simply intended to win, not meet a business need. The best design is borne out of the client-agency relationship. Without dialogue, research and development, design is little more than guesswork. Successful creative projects are based on thinking, exploring, researching and generating ideas. Firms that provide free creative pitches generally won’t go through this process, which calls the quality of the work into question. Selecting a brand agency on the basis of what will inevitably be superficial creative work is fraught with danger. It may be cheaper initially, but the long-term damage may be costly to repair. Design works best when the designer feels able to tell clients they’re wrong – and vice versa. This is almost impossible in free creative pitches.

So here’s what we do instead when invited to pitch:

1. Prove we understand the brief and objectives;
2. Provide initial thoughts on what needs to be done;
3. Explain what we would need in terms of time and strategy to develop creative work;
4. Outline our process and expected results;
5. Provide credentials including relevant client testimonials and case studies;
6. Invite you to meet the team who’ll be working with you;
7. Reassure you that we’re the right agency for the job.

We’ll obviously be disappointed if we miss out because others have provided free creative – but we’ll console ourselves by thinking of all the time and money we’ve saved, and that we’ve stayed true to our principles and processes. And should you change your mind, you’ll know where to find us!