How to pitch a project to your company
Two things you need to do to make sure your pet project gets the go-ahead
Projects are the currency of careers. They can make your career, get you promotions and raises, and make sure you have a great run in the role.
I had an idea for one as well. It was for a brand initiative at the company I was at, and it was inspired by the likes of Adobe. I was delighted at its simplicity and how my team and I were uniquely well-equipped to execute it. I was so convinced that I immediately bought the domain I wanted, and started making a presentation for my team and manager. I put ample time into it, even included a designer’s effort to illustrate to the team what the finished product could look like.
Do remember that by then, I was an experienced marketer, and thought I knew how to present and get approval for projects. And I did it well enough.
Except it was immediately shot down. I could do nothing about it. That project could have propped up my role then, which wasn’t going very well. But the no-go shut me down, and I had to resign quicker than I wanted to.
This was three years ago.
Last week, the same company unveiled the exact same project. It even had the exact same name, just spelled differently.
I wasn’t the least bit surprised.
When I saw the initiative, the exact same I’d dreamed up, I wasn’t angry or sad. I was thoughtful.
Because though I may hate to accept it, the failure of the pitch was also my fault.
I had not accounted for two things when I tried to push it through, both of which are incredibly important when you want to transform your ideas into action: Influence and timing.
How?
First, influence
Large organisations are complex beasts, with complicated internal politics and dense thickets of inertia to get through. That’s just the way it is. Very few organisations manage to break that cycle. What matters is that this is the system, and to get what you want through it, you need to build influence. This cannot be rushed, it can only happen slowly and steadily.
When I had that idea, I had not built that support system inside the organisation yet, by means of which I could push a large project across. And because I hadn’t done that, I didn’t get any support. No one cared. Why should they? It wasn’t their idea, it was mine.
If you are in an abstract role like marketing, you have to do this: Build influence. Make a list of folks who can help you, and have a voice that’s heard in the system. Make sure they know you are good at something, go out of the way to make them successful. So that when the time comes, you can count on their support.
And be sure, the time will come. And they will turn up for you. Because you turned up for them.
Marketing is a creative discipline and works in alternate bursts of inspiration and execution. When inspiration does strike, you need encouragement and a nurturing environment. Don’t wait for it to magically appear, build it yourself.
Second, timing
In life as in love, timing matters more than you think. Don’t just become an expert at how to pitch, also understand when to pitch. When I pitched the idea for the project, I knew it was a great idea for the company, but I did not know when it would be.
If you have an idea for a great PR push, don’t just pitch it straight away, do some internal research.
Ask others what they are working on. If the PR team is working on something that your project can add to, pitch it that way. If the content team has something similar, use that. Add it to the narrative already being built in the company. And if that narrative isn’t being built yet, wait. Wait for the climate to change, then pitch.
One reason for my pitch failing was also that no one at the organisation was thinking along those lines at the time. Leadership had other priorities. Only I was excited about this, and the idea was so new it probably couldn’t have got any internal traction even if I had gotten the go-ahead.
So when you have a great idea and know it’s good for the company, in addition to working out the details, do also ask yourself what the best time to pitch is. And trust your instinct. If you are smart enough to come up with and polish a good idea, you’ll know how to work this out too.
Lastly, marry influence and timing
If you want to make absolutely sure your project goes through, which you will if it’s important for your career, use a combination of both these tactics. Start gathering influence and buy-in from senior management fairly early, and make sure they are on board. Once you have that, wait for the exact moment when your ideas will be accepted by the company and even given resources to.
Do both of these together, and your project will sail through.
After that, all that is left to do is execute.