World's Worst RFP

Every year, Strategy ? the industry?s largest trade publication in Canada ? hosts an Agency of the Year gala. The shortlisted agencies are invited to produce a short video that will debut at the event before a captive audience of senior industry members. This year, Zulu Alpha Kilo wanted to shine a light on ineffectiveness of the traditional RFP process. Rather than simply portraying the absurdity of the current process, we wanted to put forward constructive solutions that could make real impact and help make the pitches better for clients and agencies. We started with a film. Inspired by post-game media scrums in professional sports, it skewered all the wrong ways to run an agency pitch ? from spec creative and the sheer number of agencies invited to how people behave during presentations. Next, we consolidated our observations and learnings about the pitch process to create a thought-leadership piece at SmarterPitch.com. Clients, agencies, pitch consultants and other industry players were invited to contribute using #SmarterPitch. Following the launch, Zulu received support from across the industry, all with the goal to improve the pitch process.