The New Year hangover might still be keeping us in snooze mode all week, but there are a few things that won’t stop because our planet completed one full circle around the sun. Yes! Business resumes as usual and it’s just the date that keeps changing. The scenes at an advertising agency are no different. What’s new this New Year? Yay! We all get new diaries to write the same old stories, but it’s up to us to change all that. This article would be talking about how to look out for new businesses if you’re in an advertising agency and doing ‘Pitch Presentations’ is your plan of action all year long.
Evolution of Pitch Presentations
Talking about the origin of pitch presentations, it all began in the late 90s when dotcom was basking in the bright spotlight. It was a venture capitalist’s dream when investors frequently signed in clients who had heavy website traffic, no money and no business model.
What used to be perceived and interchangeably termed as a boring PowerPoint Presentation, “Pitch Presentation” is usually a presentation (minimum 20 slides/minutes, based on the need) that informs the investors as to why they need to invest in a particular brand/product/service.
Speaking of pitch presentations, it is usually a battle in an advertising agency as to who or which team is actually going to take the lead. It’s usually something that needs both, left and right brain approach. So, we mean, it needs both creativity and strategy, meaning – it demands equal contributions from both, the creative team as well as the marketing team. Not all pitch presentations require that kind of balance though. It depends on the type of pitch presentation you would be doing.
Suggested Reading: Art of the Pitch, Guy Kawasaki
Pitch Please!
Well, if pitch presentation were a template, the whole world would be bored by it already. Honestly, there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ for anything. Personalization is something that’s trending in every business with every offering. If there’s no personal touch, the idea of ‘generalization of content’ is discarded mercilessly and that’s the harsh reality. That’s why, today, pitch presentations are more like identities. Everyone has their own, but just as these identities are classified into distinctive segments, pitch presentations too, are divided into different types:
Startup Pitch – For the investors to put their money in a company that’s born anew without any big names backing them, it’s kind of a gamble. It may or may not work, but startups do their homework well as to why investors should trust them. Without an investor, any startup will only remain a dream and no business or financial goals would be met. Therefore, considering the priorities, here are a few of the points that basically go into the startup pitch presentation. Some points may or may not be necessary or in the same order.
- Company overview (About Us)
- Team
- Problem Statement
- Solution
- Market Size
- Target Market
- Product/Service
- Business Model
- Competition
- Competitive advantages
- Financial Model
Team Pitch – One of the best ways to capture the investors’ attention is to showcase the team that would be working on the account. If the investors know who will be employed or working on the account, what’s their expertise, how good is the team dynamics, etc., all these points directly or indirectly impact the investors’ decision to invest in your company. The team pitch presentation is something where the potential to invest matters the most. Here are a few of the points that can be found in the team pitch presentation. Again, some points may or may not be necessary or in the same order.
- The Elevator Pitch (A short overview about the company and CEO)
- Team (Highlighting with their photos and accomplishments)
- Problem Statement
- Solution
- Product/Service
- Traction
- Business Model
- Target Market
- Competition
- Funding
Vision-Opportunity Pitch – So, whenever any company, be it a startup or an existing one, sees potential in some segment that’s been untapped and there’s much to explore, it calls for an opportunity to invest. The business owners quickly implement their business goals using this pitch presentation. The ideal structure of a Vision-Opportunity Pitch Presentation is something like this –
- Elevator Pitch
- Vision Statement
- Opportunity
- Product/Service
- Traction
- Business Model
- Competition Analysis
- Competitive Advantage
- Team
- Funding
This kind of pitch presentation demands extensive research about the market where you would want the investors to invest and they should see through the same lens through yours.
Problem-Statement Pitch – This is a simple form of ‘ask and you get it’ presentation wherein you state the problem that needs to be addressed and you present the solution. This kind of pitch deck typically includes the following pointers –
- Cover Slide
- Mostly includes the elevator pitch
- Problem Statement
- Solution
- Product/Service
- Traction
- Business Model
- Target Market
- Competition Analysis
- Team
- Funding
- This is the kind of presentation where the inputs from the creative team are as important as inputs from the marketing team.
Traction Pitch – regardless of the kind of pitch presentation you make, if the investors don’t see any traction or progress in what you’ve done so far, they wouldn’t be keen on putting their money in your wallet. The kind of structure for this type of presentation is quite similar to any other pitch presentation, except you’d want to emphasize more on the traction and identify the checkpoints where the business will actually take a turn.
Creativity is something that will never get old. At 3 Dots Design, we take great pride in being one of the best creative advertising agencies in Pune and we can quote many such instances where we have earned clients even without making a typical pitch presentation. Our creative and strategic acumen has won us the clientele that we didn’t even know we’d have today. It is not us patting our own backs, but many of our clients have given their testimony admiring our ability to be the ‘Pitch Perfect’ ad agency! Find it hard to believe? Visit our website www.3dotsdesign.in or drop us a mail at contact@3dotsdesign.in. We’ll show our Pitchcraft to you!