It’s not even two months into the 2026 working year and many agencies are already deep in pitch mode, mine included. And while there’s more than enough debate online (and off) about the psychological cocktail of hope and dread that is the pitch process, the dominant narrative surrounding pitching may be limiting, says Weave creative strategist Amber Groves.
The real question might in fact be… is there an upside to the pitch beyond the win?
Unreasonable requirements, outrageous timelines, opaque procurement frameworks and insulting remuneration models. We’ve all been there. But despite the endless critique, pitching remains stubbornly (and increasingly) embedded in the way agencies win work.
And with recent data revealing how pitch expectations have escalated, (according to The State of the Pitch in Australian Advertising, around two-thirds of pitches require speculative work, while strategy and creative are now demanded in most pitches) agencies are increasingly expected to demonstrate both deep thinking and execution from the outset.
So how can we leverage these demands as opportunities… amidst and beyond the pitch itself?
A nothing-to-lose mindset. Pitching environments are fraught with fear of failure and rejection, which is a powerful creative restraint. These conditions rarely produce originality, more often resulting in homogenised conformity (and a touch of PTSD). What if we mentally reframed this as an opportunity for disproportionate thinking, where ‘logical and safe’ is replaced with ‘surprisingly bold and fearless’.
Work in unorthodox ways. Pitches often force temporary operational reinvention. Amidst compressed timelines, quick sprints replace elongated processes, and with reduced resourcing, teams that generally work in sequence must work in parallel. These conditions aren’t comfortable, but they’re undeniably energising. What once felt frantic becomes an experiment in workflow agility, and a reminder that when we operate outside of the norm, we can reveal a remarkable level of efficiency.
Think uncomfortably. To say pitch briefs don’t always give you the full picture is a serious understatement. But in the absence of context, data, and sometimes reason, gut instinct can take the lead in idea generation and problem solving. And when you fill those knowledge gaps with creative intuition, paradoxically, the very uncertainty agencies fear, can unlock unusually distinctive thinking.
Showcase your personality. Increasingly, pitch processes are reducing or removing the critical credential-proving, chemistry-building stages, which provides a challenge to agencies to convey more than competence and creativity… but also character and culture at the pivotal moment. In this compressed environment, personality has to be embedded into the pitch itself, forcing agencies to articulate who they are, beyond what they do.
Humanising the work is half the work!
Look, I’m not here to argue in favour of the pitch process, although I do believe that a different psychological posture is not only possible, but potentially valuable. And with cited participation costs ranging between $40-$150k, pitching is an investment that demands a return beyond the typical win/lose outcome.
If pitching consistently helps agencies to think differently, work faster, and take creative risks, perhaps they’ll become less of an interruption to the ‘real work’ and more of a springboard to the conditions required for ‘great work’.
And that feels a little more ‘worth it’.
