The Big Book of Possibilities

As I reflect on the last 10 years of my career, the one thing I have consistently enjoyed is pitching. I love the challenge of solving a problem. I love building the momentum within the team. And, I love the thrill of the pitch presentation and the chase.  For the early part of my career, I didn't pitch much. I much preferred my chances of turning around a big piece of business than winning a pitch. In part, it was about the odds, but I think it was also that I didn't really know how to pitch. 

When I was at Lowe, I observed Ed Morris using a story book to present work with great effect. Given that great pitching is essentially about story telling, I decided to take this idea and make it the cornerstone of how I ran chemistry meetings/strategic pitches. We used it at Euro RSCG with great success, but I really perfected this during my time at Publicis West. 

One of the challenges that I faced in Seattle was that the agency had really lost its mojo when it came to pitching. The Big Book of Possibilities, a giant book that vividly set out the strategic opportunities available to the brand, became our signature move. It embodied the agency's proposition, which was centered around "adventurous thinking and ideas", but more importantly it became a focal point for the agency's energy and craftsmanship. 

"The little book about the big book" (see below) tells the story of how we used story telling as the central part of our pitch process.