LOS ANGELES, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- http://www.openpitch.com/ Quick, what year is it? An ad agency just tripled the size of its creative department. At the same time, an established client, in a mature business, has an in-house marketing department doing the same. Both are attracting award-winning creatives with deep top-10-agency experience. The promise? An opportunity to land a solid day-rate and never have to endure a staff meeting or even press the flesh with a client. In return, both Agency and Client receive stellar work at maximum cost-efficiency.
Given current headlines, it seems the question shouldn't be what year, but what planet. Yet, it's happening right now, through industry startup OpenPitch. OpenPitch is an online creative exchange, connecting Agencies and Brands with award-winning Creatives. It's an option so practical and obvious for ad bizzers, it just might fall in the categories of "This could be huge" and "Damn it, why didn't I think of that?"
"It's always a Catch-22, especially in times like these," notes Ron Cicero CEO and Co-Founder of OpenPitch.com. "Agencies of all sizes need to land new business, but it's tough to take an already overworked staff and put them on pitch work. Both projects can suffer. OpenPitch allows agencies to not only grow a creative department on demand, but also mold it based on the pitch at hand. The site effectively breaks down the financial and geographical barriers to top creative talent."
The web application at OpenPitch allows clients to post an advertising project either publicly or in total confidence. The OpenPitch creative community is then notified, or individual talent asked to pitch privately. Creatives are compensated based on the selection of their winning pitch, or with a typical day-rate, or both. With all projects, pitches AND solutions are kept completely confidential and the transfer of IP rights is systemized.
This process should appeal to agencies looking for more brain power, clients looking to supplement their current agency relationships, or progressive brands requiring high-level creative, but lacking the volume of work to justify employing a full-service agency. This is especially true for companies looking to cross borders, and in need of a one-time, international creative department, whether they are based in the US, or are looking to break in to the US market.
Such a timely approach may never have developed if the founders, Ron Cicero and Brad Townend didn't have such deep advertising experience. Cicero, a spot and interactive producer, and Townend, a Creative Director and Interactive Designer, have fifteen-plus years of experience in advertising, working with an enviable list of clients such as Apple, Microsoft, NFL, Comcast, Toyota, Puma, and Range Rover, with agencies including BBDO,TBWA/Chiat Day, McCann, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, and more.
"Like any agency, we realize the quality of talent is key," Townend says, "so we have been selective in our invitations, mixing it up between established CD's and promising new talent from multiple disciplines." The site now features teams of Cannes Lion and Clio Award-winning creatives from almost a dozen countries. Artists come from leading agencies such as TBWA Chiat Day, Strawberry Frog, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, 180 Amsterdam, and McCann Erickson, with a combined portfolio of work for Nike, Heineken, Coca Cola, MTV, Bud Lite, BMW, and others.
It's easy to see why the site, which launched in Beta a little over two months ago, has already attracted a healthy mix of advertisers and artists. Among the firm's initial clients is a high-profile manufacturer seeking a creative solution for their latest product launch. "The project details are still under wraps," notes Cicero, "but I can say despite a tight time frame - the project came in on December 15, with submissions closing on Christmas Eve - the client found the solution they were looking for - and met their deadline."
"We've seen the industry from all sides," says Cicero, "and we're always amazed that the industry largely responsible for the explosion of the Internet, has never really utilized it to evolve one of their core business processes: the creative pitch." Townend, who has done creative work for diverse brands such as Ed Hardy and Smith MicroSystems, adds, "It's important that both sides win, meaning agencies and clients can harvest many, many more solutions, while creatives are not 'crowdsourced' out of a living."
"Anyone who has worked in this business awhile will tell you that collaboration is the heart and soul of successful advertising," Townend concludes. "We're just taking the Long Tail and applying it to the ad industry."
