Key takeaways
- Ad agency new business is account-based: a short list of named brands, each researched properly.
- A new chief marketing officer, a rebrand or a launch into a new market is when a brand looks at its roster.
- Check client conflicts before anything else, because one category usually allows one agency.
- A clear opinion on the brand's current work earns a meeting faster than a credentials deck.
Why does ad agency new business start with a short list
Ad agency new business starts with a short list because a brand changes agencies rarely and a pitch costs an agency weeks of senior time. Broad lists of marketing contacts produce polite silence; a list of brands where your category experience, size and creative style genuinely fit produces conversations worth having.
Keep the list short enough that someone on your team knows every brand on it: its current campaign, its incumbent agency, its last leadership change. Rank brands by fit and by how likely a review looks, and drop any brand that competes with a client you already serve.
Who at a brand hires an advertising agency
The chief marketing officer or marketing director usually makes the final call, while the brand director or senior brand manager runs the day-to-day relationship and often starts the search. Media agencies answer to a head of media or media director as well.
Larger brands put the process through procurement and sometimes hire an intermediary to run the agency search. Being known to those intermediaries puts you on long lists you would never see otherwise.
- Chief marketing officer or marketing director: the decision and the budget
- Brand director or brand manager: the brief, the day-to-day and often the first conversation
- Head of media: channel planning and buying, for media and integrated agencies
- Procurement: formal reviews, fees and contract terms at large brands
Which moments open a brand to a new agency
A brand looks at its agency roster when something about its marketing changes. A new marketing leader often reviews the roster early in the role, and a rebrand, a repositioning or a launch into a new market makes the existing agency's knowledge less valuable.
Other moments are quieter: a merger that brings two rosters together, a campaign that visibly did not land, the incumbent's contract coming up for renewal, or trade press reporting that an account is in review. Many brands plan budgets once a year, so the weeks before planning are when a fresh idea gets a hearing.
How to get clients for an ad agency without a credentials deck
Get clients for an ad agency by opening with an opinion about the brand's own work, not a reel of yours. One specific observation, such as a gap between how the brand talks and how its customers talk about it, shows the thinking the client would be buying.
Decide in advance how much unpaid creative you will give away. A short strategy session or a written perspective note shows how you think without handing over the idea, and it gives the brand a small, low-risk next step.
What should agencies check before the first approach
Agencies should check conflicts, the review process and the advertising rules before the first approach. If a brand is in a formal review, its procurement terms may forbid contact with the marketing team outside the process, and breaking that rule can disqualify you.
Brands in regulated categories, such as alcohol, gambling or financial products, will ask how you work within the UK advertising codes the ASA enforces for those categories. Your own emails follow electronic marketing rules too, so confirm your approach with your adviser.
How to run advertising agency prospecting
Work account by account: fewer brands, each with a real reason to talk now.
- Name the categories you can win in and remove every brand that conflicts with a current client.
- Build a short list of named brands and find the marketing lead, brand director and head of media at each.
- Watch for review moments: leadership changes, rebrands, launches, mergers and accounts reported as in review.
- Write one point of view on each brand's current work before anyone reaches out.
- Approach the decision maker with that view and a small next step, such as a short session with your strategy lead.
- Record every contact and observation so the next approach builds on the last.
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityProspecting & customer recordsName up to ten target brands with roles such as brand director or head of media and a location; Find fresh leads draws on Pebbles Ai's own growing B2B contact database, GDPR compliant, and the people found land as CRM contacts in a segment.
- CapabilityResearch & analysisAsk an assistant to read a brand's website and recent announcements and summarise its campaigns and positioning, with numbered citations and a source list.
- FoundationCompany IntelCompany Intel holds your agency's offerings and brand voice, so first drafts sound like your agency rather than a template.
Common questions
How many brands should an agency target at once?
As many as your team can research properly and give a genuine point of view on. A shorter list worked well beats a long one worked thinly.
Should an advertising agency do free pitch work?
Decide per opportunity and set a limit in advance. Strategic thinking shows your value without giving the creative idea away before you are paid.
Do agency search intermediaries matter for new business?
For larger brands, yes, because they often build the long list. Keep them informed about your work and the categories you want to win.
Can I email a marketing director without consent?
In the UK, emails to people at limited companies are treated differently from emails to individuals or sole traders under electronic marketing rules. Identify yourself, offer an easy opt-out and confirm your approach with your adviser.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
