The Evolution of the Pitch with Sophie Kelly, SVP of N.A Whiskey Portfolio at Diageo
For both agencies & clients, pitching is meant to result in picking a long time partner to work with. It should be a collaborative process on both sides. There needs to be a lot of shared information and openness for the working relationship to work. But Sophie Kelly believes that if a client doesn’t want to be transparent and engage in the sharing of their business issues, then an agency may need to consider if that's a company they can work with.
Sophie Kelly is the Senior Vice President of North American Whiskey Portfolio at Diageo. She is a committed and well-rounded marketer with a proven track record. Prior to her tenure at Diageo, Sophie was on the agency side herself, running The Barbarian Group, StrawberryFrog, and J. Walter Thompson in New York. She has many years of experience hearing pitches on the brand side as well as making pitches with some of the best agencies in the world.
In this week’s episode, Sophie joins host Michael Quinn to share her perspectives on whether or not pitching budgets should be transparent, how the pitching process has evolved over time, and the need for team participation in the pitch room.
Highlights:
[00:34] Michael introduces his guest, Sophie Kelly
[01:45] How has pitching changed over the years?
[04:11] The main quality Sophie sees consistent among pitch winners
[05:21] Sophie's advice to people who want to improve their pitches
[10:51] Should people be transparent about pitching budgets?
[13:37] Common areas pitch teams go wrong or get into trouble
[18:03] The kind of participation Sophie expects for a good connection
[20:08] How Sophie finds her creative partners
Resources Mentioned in this episode
Connect with Michael Quinn
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This episode is brought to you by Minor Nobles, a research and skills development company for people who do B2B corporate pitching. Whether you're pitching for the first time or you've been doing it for a long time, Minor Nobles gives you the skills and insights your team needs to avoid the traps that cause people to lose pitches to corporate audiences.