An interview with Jon Steel

One of the most famous planners of recent times and one of Britain’s most successful advertising exports, Jon Steel has released a new book. A follow-up to the acclaimed Truth Lies and Advertising, Perfect Pitch is all about what advertising agencies arguably do best, win pitches.

Influx Insights have got a fantastic interview with Jon in which he talks about how to pitch; one of the most famous pitches of all time, the London 2012 Olynpic bid; and a brilliant pitching anecdote:

“It’s a well-told tale, but I have never heard a story to top the one about London agency Allen Brady & Marsh’s pitch to British Rail in the late 1970s or early 1980s. My version of events may not be the exact truth, but this is what I have heard.

“The client team arrived at the agency at the appointed time, to be greeted by a disinterested receptionist in a rather dirty lobby area. The receptionist broke off from filing her nails for just long enough to direct them towards a small sitting area where the seats were stained, ashtrays were overflowing, and the stains of numerous coffee cups remained on the table. She didn’t offer them any drinks. The clients waited, and waited, and waited. As the scheduled time for the agency’s presentation disappeared into the past, they asked what was going on, and the receptionist replied tersely that someone would “be along in a minute.” Their frustration grew, until at the moment they were about to pick up their bags and leave, Peter Marsh, the agency head, appeared before them. “Gentlemen,” he said. “You have just experienced what hundreds of thousands of people experience every day on British Rail. And we’d like to talk to you about how to put that right?

“Allen Brady & Marsh won the pitch. It’s impossible to say whether they won it because of the stunt, but unlike most pitch stunts it was absolutely relevant to the message of the agency’s presentation. It forced the unsuspecting clients from British Rail not only to understand and believe the idea, but also to experience it, to feel it for themselves. There’s no more powerful way to get a point across.”