BBH launched their new website this week. Frankly, its about time:

It is a huge improvement over the last version of the site, is way easier to navigate, and gives a much more accurate representation of the quality of work that comes out of BBH. Its remarkable to think how much a brand’s image is dependent on their online presence – and how often it goes neglected.

I’ve realized lately (or too late?) that I haven’t posted much about what I am actually doing at work. Sure, you’ve read all about the view I have, how late I stay, and how much fun I have – but I haven’t shared much information about what I actually do at BBH, or even what I’ve learned. Of course, I can’t share it all. I did sign a confidentiality agreement after all. But here’s what I can say:

I’m one of 10 interns working at BBH for the summer. There are two interns working in Account Management, two are copywriters, one is an art director, one works in Engagement Planning, one works in Production, one is a designer, and there is myself: the New Business Intern.

In my role, I am the fourth and lowest rung on the Business Development ladder. Above me are a New Business Coordinator, New Business Account Director, and the Director of Business Development.

My days are typically spent doing intern-y things such as loads of research into competitors, industries, quotes, people, movies, culture, anything. I also get to conduct interviews with people, make war room’s that inspire, and basically anything else that needs to get done. I also get to throw my own thoughts and ideas in whenever I want… or when appropriate. Oh, and all us interns are creating a campaign for one of BBH’s clients that very well could be the campaign for this product if the higher minds of BBH deem it worthy.

Another, very exciting, part of my job is working on Zag. More to come on that later.

The reason I’ve been so busy lately is because the entire agency is in the middle of a pitch for a major piece of new business. It’s an awesome opportunity to be a part of such a grueling process and be able to see it from start to finish. Someone much smarter than myself once remarked that new business pitches bring out the best in agencies. I’m told that things can get a bit silo-ed and fragmented during normal day-to-day campaign creation and maintenance. It is during pitch-time though that everyone in the entire agency rallies together behind a single cause. Suddenly, people from all disciplines are working together in the same room to solve a problem and win a new account. And they should. For it is these new pieces of business that validate the agency’s work, culture, and people. It is what keeps them employed. For a bigger agency, its a sort of ‘return to your roots’ moment as everyone is forced to be strategic thinkers and be nimble with their work and ideas.

I always thought though that pitches were won based solely on a completely thought-out and mocked up campaign. Each agency pitches their campaign idea and the best one wins and that winning campaign is what makes it to the masses. However, I’m quickly learning that the pitch process is so much more than that. A client will pick an agency based on the ‘big idea’ certainly, but of almost equal weight are the culture and people behind that idea. And so pitches turn in to extravagant shows where each agency tries to ‘wow’ the client with the littlest of details that, in the end, will make the difference between winning and losing. The big idea is still the most important part, but how that idea is made and in what context it is created is the differentiation.

I’ve heard it before, but I’m living it now: the livelihood of all agencies depend on a group of very smart people who, day in and day out, are charged to ‘think at the speed of new business’.