After the success of scripted shows Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Killing and The Walking Dead, AMC is heading for the real world. The network is pitching the reality show “The Pitch,” to advertising agencies. Each episode will be a 1 hour stand alone show that features two to three agencies competing for the business of a real client. The producers for “The Pitch” reality TV professionals with CEO Steven Lambert creating “Wife Swap,” “Faking It” and “Undercover Boss,” and Eli Holzman being the former head and co-founder of Miramax Television, and creator of “Project Runway.”
While marketers Yahoo and Kodak have jumped on-board, advertising agencies seem to be on the fence regarding the show. Several agencies are in talks with AMC but remain undecided, including Interpublic’s Deutsch, the Martin Agency and McCann; Publicis’ Kaplan Thaler Group, Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis and Leo Burnett. Other major agencies have completely declined including BBDO, BBH and Deustch.
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“We looked at the format and felt it was very misaligned with the way that we work with clients,” said Doug Scott, president of Ogilvy Entertainment. “We didn’t feel that the pitch was staying true to the process in which our [industry] works. What we were presented format-wise felt forced to be a dramatic competition, in a soft-scripted manner, vs. a more natural way that agencies work with clients and how a campaign is born.”
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