CLOSE-UP: LIVE ISSUE - Pragmatism rules as Boots holds pitch of pitches.

The pitch process devised by the brand is as big as the brief itself, John Tylee says.

In terms of sheer scale, it's doubtful whether adland has ever seen anything quite like the race about to begin for the estimated pounds 90 million Boots integrated account.

The field is of London Marathon proportions. At least 20 agencies, ranging from creative powerhouses to PR consultancies, are forming some unlikely alliances to capture the prize.

Not since the BBC filled a London theatre to overflowing with agency executives contesting its TV Licensing business two years ago has something so ambitious taken place.

Indeed, a senior manager at one of the competing shops calculates that between 300 and 400 agency staff are involved on the retailer's brief in some way. 'I don't think even Boots has any idea what an extensive operation this has become,' he says.

All of which may help explain why old barriers are breaking down and new alliances are being formed to meet what is acknowledged to be the most complex of briefs.

Moreover, the competing agencies know that their boasts about being able to deliver integrated marketing solutions will be tested as never before when they put their proposals to Boots in mid-November.