Where have all the big pitches gone?

While not the most high-profile creative account in the region, the Tiger business does at least represent a win with a bit of scope, something that appears to have gone missing in the market of late. Ask yourself, when was the last creative pitch that really got the pulses going? You probably have to go back to April to BBH replacing Y&R at the helm of Singapore Tourism Board's global business for the last notable win in the region that had both scale and prestige.

This pessimism around the lack of strong creative pitches is not just anecdotal. According to marketing consultancy R3, 42 per cent of all creative relationships in China are now project-based, up from 37 per cent in 2008. Clients are clearly thinking more short-term than ever before, and that single-agency relationship is no longer as big a priority.

Looking forward to the rest of 2010, there is little to suggest that this is going to change anytime soon. Several large global creative accounts that will have an impact in Asia are under review, but even these are few and far between. At a regional/local level, there is not too much genuinely exciting (or financially lucrative) business on the horizon, unlike the excess of media pitches, which is a whole different discussion.

As R3 suggests, clients are increasingly taking what they need for a specific project, regardless of agency - be it branding, digital, CRM or pure creative. And who can blame them? Because despite all the talk, there are only a handful of agencies/networks in the region that can genuinely provide the full portfolio of modern marketing competencies that a client needs.

Of course, this could all be an over-reaction and we may soon see a surplus of new business as existing contracts start to run their course. Certainly, the hope from within some agencies is that rather than reflecting a permanent breakdown in the creative-client business model, we are in fact in the middle of a natural business cycle, which will eventually correct itself. Perhaps a large local player, such as HSBC or equivalent, will decide it would like to reassess its creative relationships. Or maybe China Mobile or another Chinese giant may finally decide that a dedicated creative relationship is something worth paying the right kind of money for.

But, we won't hold our breath. Until clients get back to viewing agency relationships more strategically, and move away from short-term thinking, big creative reviews will remain thin on the ground.

This article was originally published in the 17 June 2010 issue of Media.