Every pitch you chase is paid for by clients you already won

Short answer: WPP CEO Cindy Rose told analysts WPP skipped the pitch for Coca-Cola's North American media account so it could deliver on the rest of the world, which it had just won. For a smaller agency, the same trade is measured in hours. Before you say yes to the next RFP, write down whose hours it takes and which client loses them. (Digiday, Oct 30, 2026)

TLDR

• WPP did not pitch Coke North America so it could deliver what it had already won. (Rose, via Digiday)
• Rose: pitching costs a lot of money and time with no guarantee of a win. (Digiday's summary)
• Price every pitch in hours and name the client who pays for them.

What did WPP decide?

Seb Joseph reported in Digiday on Oct 30, from WPP's Q3 earnings call, that WPP sat out the pitch for Coca-Cola's North American media account while it worked to keep the roughly $2 billion Coke spends on media, data and tech everywhere else.

Rose said: "We didn't participate in the North America pitch. Mostly because we won the rest of the world, and we have a huge amount of work to do in a very short period of time."

She described the trade: "We made a tough call between spending yet another six weeks pitching for North America versus delivering against what we had already won."

She called it her decision: "It was a fine judgment call, which I made, and it is as simple as that, really."

What is the context?

Digiday notes WPP had lost the North American account to Publicis the year before, so going back would have meant spending heavily to win back business Coke had moved about 18 months earlier. Digiday separately reported on October 22, 2026 (confirmed) that Omnicom won Coke's U.S. and Canada media account, while WPP kept its global remit outside Japan and South Korea.

WPP Media's revenue less pass-through costs grew 0.3% like for like in Q3, after a 2.8% decline the quarter before, per Digiday. That figure does not prove the pitch decision worked, and this piece does not claim it does.

This is a holding company call. The lesson for a smaller agency is the trade, not the scale. (Opinion, Head of Content)

Why does this matter to a 10 to 50 person agency?

A pitch is paid for in senior hours. Those hours come from somewhere. Usually they come from the clients you onboarded in the last 90 days, the ones still deciding whether you were the right call. (Opinion, Head of Content)

"One question: who on my team pays for this pitch, and which client loses them while they do it? A new logo is worth nothing if it costs you the client you signed last month."

What does saying yes to everything cost?

You win the pitch and lose a client you just signed because their first 90 days were run by whoever was left. (Opinion, Head of Content)

The pitch test

1. Estimate the hours the pitch will take. Strategy, creative, deck, rehearsal, follow-up.
2. Name whose hours they are.
3. List the current clients those people serve, starting with anyone onboarded in the last 90 days.
4. Compare the prospect's likely value against the risk to those clients.
5. If the risk is bigger, pass. Tell the prospect when you will have room, and put that date in your CRM.

Next step

Who: the agency owner and whoever approves new business work. What: a one-line hours estimate and a named "who pays" client on every pitch request. When: before you say yes to the next RFP or spec proposal. How: the five-step pitch test above, reviewed in your weekly leadership meeting.