When presenting your campaign to the class during the pitch meeting, remember this is a professional presentation with the associated stakes (winning the account and associated extra credit points!). Dress professionally and practice your presentation for time, content, and tone. The winner selected by the students and by instructors will be named separately, with the account awarded to the winner of the instructors’ vote. The student vote will award 5 bonus points, and the instructor vote 10 bonus points. (Yes, you can win both.)

You will be given 10 minutes to deliver your ideas, so focus on the most important strategic decisions. You should spend most of your time on the key research insights and strategic decisions, the creative concept and executions, and promotional and PR activities, with media planning providing the architecture of the campaign.

Do not get bogged down in details. Time limits will be enforced strictly to maintain equity across groups and stay within the two hours we will have (5 groups per client x 10 minutes x two clients = 100 minutes). To speed transitions between teams, we will ask you to share your pitch decks in advance. If you exceed 10 minutes, you will be cut off. You will be warned when you have one minute left.

Some advice:

• • Provide a broad overview and practice, practice, practice. Your goal should be to deliver it without notecards. An old marketing adage – “The campaign plan is the steak; the pitch is the sizzle.”
  • Introduce yourselves! In the business world, the convention is to use your first and last names. And when you finish, ask for the business and emphasize why your campaign best serves the client.
  • You will be given 10 minutes to deliver your ideas, so focus on the most important research insights and strategic decisions. You should spend most of your time on the strategy, the creative concept and executions, and core promotional and PR activities, with media placement providing the campaign architecture. Make an effort to discuss your primary research and how it informed your strategy and execution, especially if it drove major campaign initiatives.
  • All group members are required to be part of the pitch and you should work together to develop the presentation. Use of visuals is encouraged — use the pitch as the time to show off your best creative. Make sure to walk us through some of your ads. Presentation decks and the associated pitch can take many forms, and can showcase strategic thinking, creative originality, or digital savvy.
  • Don’t forget the context of this presentation — you’re an agency presenting your campaign to the client and walking their representatives through what you would do for their brand. They don’t need a ton of history, but let them know what strategic insights led you to this campaign. Also, you want them to hire your agency, so don’t forget to make the ask for their business.

Please note that evaluations of your presentation performance are separate from the grading of the campaign plan books.