COMMERCIAL.

The objective is to ensure all opportunities are captured, qualified and transitioned into the business in a way that sets projects up to win — creatively, commercially and operationally.

Opportunities enter the business through Ingenuity, the Advisory Board, personal Paradise contacts and the wider team, alongside inbound enquiries. The weekly Commercial Meeting acts as the single source of truth for all new business activity, where every opportunity is reviewed, discussed and tracked.

For outbound and network-led opportunities, ownership sits with the Commercial Lead (currently Andy) or the individual who originated the lead. For inbound enquiries, the Head of Marketing is responsible for the initial response and for assigning the most appropriate Commercial Lead or Account Lead to progress the conversation.

All opportunities must be logged in the 2026 Master Business Tracker ahead of the commercial meeting to ensure visibility and consistency across the business. Once captured, each opportunity is assigned a Commercial Owner and an initial commission structure is defined in line with agreed frameworks.

The Commercial Owner, working closely with a relevant Account Lead (AD or AM), is responsible for properly understanding the opportunity. This includes qualifying the scope, assessing timeline and budget, and determining whether the opportunity is a strong strategic fit for the business.

Alongside this, there should be a clear understanding of the client — their needs, motivations, personality and interests — to ensure the right approach is taken from the outset. At this point, the Head of Marketing should also be made aware of the opportunity so it can be considered within the wider marketing and growth funnel.

Once qualified, the Commercial Owner determines the most appropriate route forward. This is a key decision point and should be made quickly to maintain momentum.

Direct Opportunity (4A): where a brief is clear, scoped and ready to execute, the focus is on moving quickly and confidently to secure the work. An Account Lead owns the client relationship, alongside a Delivery Lead from the Studio responsible for execution. Scope, timelines and expectations are aligned early to avoid rework. These are typically the most efficient opportunities, where confidence, clarity and speed get the job over the line.

Pitch Opportunity (4B): where an opportunity requires creative development, a Pitch Win Team (PWT) is formed — an Account Lead and a Creative or Studio Lead as a minimum, with additional support depending on the scale and complexity of the brief. The team is assigned collaboratively between Commercial and Account Services.

The Experience team should be involved at the earliest possible stage of any event, activation, sponsorship, retail, trade show or live experience conversation. Early feasibility keeps promises realistic, budgets accurate, timings achievable and supplier availability maximised.

Pitches come into the agency with the pitch team being set up and roles created by the Commercial & Account Director, depending on capacity. The team defines the win strategy, shapes the response and manages the pitch process end to end — with clear timelines, budget allocation and resource planning to ensure the effort is aligned to the value of the opportunity.

The pitch budget is set for the time allowed or needed. For new business pitches, set the job up as PITCH – [Project Name]. If the pitch is for an existing client, set it up as GROWTH – [Client Name]; all pitch-related time and activity connected to winning additional business from that client is logged here, so we can track the time invested in growing each account without reviewing multiple jobs.

The pitch lead digests the initial brief before briefing the team, making sure the briefing form is complete — either by the client or the AD. The Paradise template should have all information added, the ask/brief slide filled out and case studies chosen where known, so the onus is shared rather than resting on Creative.

Pitches are an opportunity to win new business — if you're involved, your involvement matters, so roles and responsibilities are set out clearly. Brainstorming is a whole-team effort: ideas and solutions come from everyone, with check-ins laid out and movement from everyone.

Once in a good spot, we pitch to the internal team to make sure what we're pitching is doable — at the latest, the day before the client presentation.

Across both direct and pitch opportunities, early alignment on the right team is critical. This should be a considered conversation between Commercial, Account Services and the Studio, ensuring that the individuals assigned are the best fit to win the work and have the capacity to deliver it effectively.

Once aligned, the appropriate Slack channels, Paprika job and Asana workflows are set up in line with the Account Services process, ensuring the opportunity is properly structured as it moves forward.

Once an opportunity is won, ownership transitions into delivery. The Account Lead takes responsibility for the client relationship and the project moves into active account management. The client should be considered within the broader growth pipeline and, where relevant, added to the Growth Tracker.

From the outset, commission, revenue and profitability are tracked against the opportunity. This is managed collaboratively between Commercial and Account Services to ensure visibility and accuracy throughout the lifecycle of the project.

Following delivery, the opportunity transitions into a growth account. Responsibility typically moves more fully into Account Services, with the Commercial Lead stepping back where appropriate while still supporting where additional commercial input is needed.

The Studio owns execution and resourcing, delivering the work in line with its internal processes, while Account Services manages day-to-day client communication and overall project flow.

Successful projects should naturally evolve into longer-term relationships, repeat work and retained partnerships. These feed back into the agency's growth pipeline, strengthening key accounts and supporting sustained commercial success.

This process is designed to bring clarity, ownership and momentum into how we approach new business: the right opportunities captured, the right people assigned, and every project given the best possible chance to succeed and grow.