Opinion: On the Campaign Couch ... with JB.(Jeremy Bullmore)(Column)

Q: I'm the marketing director at a large media owner and have just held a creative pitch. The incumbent declined to repitch in a fit of pique that I'd called the pitch, then the ideas presented by the four agencies that did pitch were all rubbish. What should I do?

A: Did your incumbent agency tell you quite explicitly that they'd declined to repitch because they'd thrown a fit of pique? If so, they will have been the first to do so. I'm in awe of their honesty. Alternatively, their pique was merely your assumption, and not necessarily an accurate one. They may have despaired at your inability to judge ideas. Long

months failing to satisfy a client who is wholly devoid of creative judgment can corrode the soul of the most conscientious of agencies. They may have decided, politely of course, to leave you to drown in your own indecisiveness.

I don't expect you to accept this interpretation. Expecting clients to accept that they're devoid of creative judgment is to expect the tone deaf to appreciate perfect pitch. But now that you've put your brief to four new agencies and - at least in your view - they've all come up with total rubbish, I think you should consider your position.

Clients devoid of creative judgment have two stark choices: never again take any responsibility for any part of their companies' communications; or pick an agency of repute and accept every last detail of their recommendations with blind faith.

That's what Hathaway Shirts did with David Ogilvy about 60 years ago. Both client and agency prospered mightily. It's high time somebody did it again. So go back to your incumbent agency and astonish them. Tell them you'll accept every last detail of their recommendations for the whole of 2007 without question or quibble. By 2008, you'll either be a shoo-in for Marketing Director of the Year or you'll be looking not only for a new agency but a new employer as well.

Go on. Dare you.