Have you seen the show called "The Pitch"?

This is a "reality" show on AMC--DVR it if you can. In each episode, two ad firms vie for the same project.

You can see the creativity in action--or see the process stall.

I am a product namer, but I never worked for an ad firm. I love this, though--it brings back old memories.

It is also fun and snarky. In one episode, the product to be pitched is a women's facial hair remover called Fuzz Off.

One firm is two metrosexual men, one especially so with obsessive hair issues, the other a sort of snooty Asian guy. No women, although they agonize over whether to bring a young blond intern to the pitch to get the women's angle in there. Gee, that wouldn't be a token, would it?

The other firm is almost all women, run by a mad genius type guy who lost his money in some murky backstory and lives at the office.

The women team brainstorms in one room. The two-men company disdains that and has people work separately. But I notice they eventually BS (funny how those initials came out) in one room.

Both pitches make female mustaches sort of larky and funny--just get rid of it, no worries. Both are asked to incorporate social media, FB, video. That is the new way now.

Another episode is for a company that replaces all your electronics if they break--eek, my phone! It's basically a warranty company--how sexy is that?

The two firms are an older one, serious, almost grim (also no women), and a loosy-goosy new viral video company--all big talk and I wonder how much marketing or ad training (no women). They made a funny video, though.

Both spend three days of their week getting...nothing. Then the client comes over and says, you have nothing. So they get serious.

No matter how much new media is involved or how people have "changed," you still need to listen to the client, find the big idea (although this is mentioned way too often for me), and execute.

You may fall in love with a quirky angle and think it's "big"--but it may not be anything the customer cares about.

In a pitch, think client--but also think sales.

Plus--smile. These young people troop into the client's office as if they were coming to bury their pet dog.