Just Say No...

...to Airlines & Tourist boards. They are always a nightmare. The budget may appear large but it is spread across 100+ countries & is therefore tiny in each market. And Tourist boards are usually Government organisations so they have hellish bureaucracy & call a pitch every year.

Other clients to avoid if possible are local clients in Eastern Europe. These tend to be organisations that did not hear the Berlin Wall fall. They make the Byzantine Empire look like a model of efficiency & transparency. Their indecision is final.

I once had a pitch meeting with a Russian mineral water company. I didn't want to win it as we already had Nestle & Danone. I also had a bad experience with a local drink company in Poland.

Admittedly our presentation wasn't perfect. The client service director suggested print, the creative director showed some posters & I had a vision....television. We didn't win the business. The client thought that we didn't show "teamwork." A strange conclusion. I thought we demonstrated a remarkable ability to work across different media.

I was in trouble with the suits. But I offered the humble opinion that if their company was any good it would be bought by Nestle or Danone.

Nestle bought them 6 months later.