London Advertising Agency Prima, were pitching for the Ford Motor Co advertising account. This was in the halcyon days of advertising circa 1969.
They decided to do the following:
They dismantled a Ford Escort car. Took it up the stairs piece by piece, part by part and then put it back together in the board room. This was where the pitch was to take place. The people who did this were not mechanics. It was the people who would be working on the Ford account. The creatives and the account managers. The idea was entirely conceived and executed by the people who would be working with Ford on their advertising.
When the Ford people arrived for the pitch. They were flummoxed to say the least. And immediately asked how they got the car in the building? Given there was no obvious way for the actual car to get in the building, let alone up the stairs!
The pitch then commenced with the Prima advertising team telling the story. Which no doubt included some of the trials and tribulations of dismantling & building a car piece by piece. But more so, showed all the intangibles which ultimately won them the account:
Passion, Ideas, Creativity, work ethic…
And a willingness to stretch themselves as a partner and an understanding of what Ford do, beyond that which any other advertising agency could have.
This is the benchmark. What will your next business pitch look like?
Love this piece! THAT is creativity and the willingness to go the extra mile to me!
Love the story. It shows how demonstrating passion & determination can make or break a business deal. It kind of reminds me of an episode of Entourage where the boys shop around for agents who all present them the same basic presentation. They finally have a presentation for their existing manager who they want to stay with, but he does a presentation like all the other agencies and loses the client. They wanted something to stand out. Prima definitely did this.
I love it! This is exactly what wins a pitch!!
Luke Waldren.