The inaugural PitchLab event, hosted by New Digital Age at The Century Club in London, set out to solve a familiar industry problem, how do independent agencies and technology partners build meaningful relationships in a market where everyone is time-poor and overloaded with pitches.
Chaired by NDA Editor-in-Chief Justin Pearse, the Dragons’ Den-style format deliberately stripped away the usual comforts. The day began with a series of fast-paced seven-minute lightning pitches by each contestant to the entire judging panel, followed by individual deep-dive sessions with each judge.
Participants included Carly Activille, Managing Director, AudienceQ; David Whiteley, Customer Success Lead, Outra; Tom Gunter, Co-Founder and Head of New Markets, Avid Collective; Andrea Mason, Global Advertising Sales Director, SmartFrame; Nicole Nixon, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Nano Interactive; Bill Dennett, Regional Team Lead, Uber Advertising; and Thomas Ives, Director, RAAS LAB.
The Best Pitch of the Day award, voted for by the judges, was given to RAAS LAB, with Avid Collective a close second.
Why the format resonated
For many of the tech companies involved, the greatest value lay in the discipline imposed by the format itself. Carly Activille, Managing Director at AudienceQ, said the “structured, time-bound pitch sessions really make you think as a tech partner about the clearest and most concise way to deliver your core messaging”.
She added that the approach helped them highlight strengths “without the usual noise or long intros”, encouraging focused conversations that made the time feel well spent.
That sense of urgency was echoed by David Whiteley, Customer Success Lead at Outra, who described the day as “expertly organised” with a real “outcome-first feel”. He noted that having a short pitch followed by 15-minute conversations worked particularly well, adding, “Amazing what you can achieve when set a time limit.”
For Tom Gunter, Co-Founder and Head of New Markets at Avid Collective, the tight pitching window was revealing in itself.
“Everyone spoke to seven minutes being a short amount of time, but it shows what you can present when given a timeline,” he said. “I think everyone left thinking more meetings should be short and sharp, not one hour long.”
Meaningful conversations
Beyond the structure, the quality of the discussions stood out. Several judges commented on how engaged and commercially focused the agencies were.
Andrea Mason, Global Advertising Sales Director at SmartFrame, said the mix of a short pitch followed by one-to-one conversations meant they could “get into meaningful discussions quickly”. As a newer supplier, she added that the format helped SmartFrame introduce its proposition clearly and receive “honest, direct feedback”.
Mason also highlighted the calibre of the agency questions. “The questions were smart, practical, and very commercially focused, which made the conversations genuinely valuable,” she said. “It was great to see how quickly people could map the proposition to real clients and live opportunities.”
AudienceQ had a similar experience. Activille noted that meeting a wide range of independent agencies revealed “a different approach to what we offer, from creative strategy to data-driven execution”, while the pace of the sessions kept energy high throughout the day.
Bigger themes emerging
For Nano Interactive, the conversations surfaced a broader industry sentiment.
Nicole Nixon, Senior Product Marketing Manager, said feedback from agencies pointed to a growing sense of AI fatigue. “Nano’s ‘AI with Intent’ positioning resonated strongly,” she explained, because it focuses on augmenting talent rather than replacing it. “Our approach helps independents compete more effectively and ultimately drive stronger campaign outcomes.”
That emphasis on practical value rather than hype felt particularly relevant in a room full of independent agencies looking for technology that genuinely levels the playing field.
Cutting through the noise
Underlying almost every piece of feedback on the standard new business process for tech companies was the same challenge, getting attention. Tom Gunter summed it up simply, saying the biggest issue is “getting attention and through the door like so many of us”.
Bill Dennett, Regional Team Lead at Uber Advertising, said PitchLab stood in sharp contrast to the traditional new business journey for technology partners.
“Typically, building agency relationships is a long game,” he explained. “It involves a lot of outreach, follow-ups, and trying to engage at multiple levels within an organisation, often without knowing whether you are speaking to the right people or solving the right problems.”
Dennett added that this approach can be inefficient for both sides.
“Everyone is time-poor, agencies included, and there are always big client challenges competing for attention,” he said. “PitchLab worked because it compressed what can often take months into a single, focused day, allowing for considered conversations rather than surface-level introductions.”
Thomas Ives, Director at RAAS LAB, described PitchLab as “incredibly useful” precisely because access to independent agencies actively looking for what is next is so rare.
“Agencies are time-poor, flooded with ‘best-in-class’ claims, and rightly sceptical,” he said. “The bar is showing measurable value fast, with minimal extra work for their teams.”
David Whiteley agreed, pointing out that traditional agency relationship-building still relies on “real graft” and sustained presence, which is difficult when agencies are juggling large client challenges. “Being able to cover so much in one day really works,” he said.
What PitchLab demonstrated is that speed does not have to come at the expense of substance. By forcing clarity, encouraging honesty, and respecting everyone’s time, the format created space for meaningful conversations that might otherwise take months to arrange.
PitchLab will be returning later this year, taking place in Manchester.
The judges for PitchLab were: James Shoreland, CEO at VCCP; Charlotte Oliver, Business Director at Smithfield; Nick Smith, CDO at JAA Media; Charlotte Mullan, MD at Walk-In Media; Simi Gill, Head of Digital at The Kite Factory; Erfan Djami, CDO at Mediahub; Michelle Sarpong, Head of Activation at the7stars; Paul Spokes, Board Director at AMS; Aaron Green, Communications Strategy Director at Mother; Zoe Hayward, Managing Partner at Bountiful Cow; and Dan Shepherd, Managing Partner at Good Stuff.
