Pitching last year cost agencies $100k a pop, are hidden costs rising? Agencies and marketers urged to benchmark

News 28 Feb 2022 - 2 min read

Pitching last year cost agencies $100k a pop, are hidden costs rising? Agencies and marketers urged to benchmark

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New Business Methodology's Managing Director and founder, Julia Vargiu.

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Tags: Pitching Procurement

Last year, a new survey found the pain of pitching is a $100,000 problem for agencies. It also takes more than a year to make a profit after investing hours in the pitch. Will 2022 be any different? Agencies and marketers are being urged to take this year's survey to gauge whether the hidden cost of pitching is getting better, or worse.

What you need to know:

The 2022 OUCH! Factor Survey is open for marketers and agency leaders to put in submissions.
Last year’s survey found an average of 175 hours spent on each pitch by agencies and 125 by marketers and procurement.

An annual survey of agencies and marketers to calculate the time and impact of a pitch is calling for industry submissions.

The 2022 OUCH! Factor Survey is open and closes on Thursday 31 March.

Carried out by New Business Methodology, the survey last year found the average agency spent 175 hours on each pitch and 1,913 hours a year – or $100,000 in unbilled hours – pitching, cumulatively.

Marketers and procurement invested 125 hours on the average pitch process.

On average, the study found it took 14 months to reach profitability after winning an average pitch.

“Agency leaders and marketers were shocked to see the results of last year’s survey, which painted an unforgiving picture of how much time agencies really invest in winning new business through pitching,” Julia Vargiu, founder and MD of New Business Methodology, said.

The survey has the backing of the Australian Association of National Advertisers, the Advertising Council of Australia, the Media Federation of Australia and the Independent Media Agencies of Australia.

Take the survey here.