CARD

Avoiding unnecessary pitches and designing long-term partnerships built on trust. A service created for advertiser procurement and marketing departments — one of very few of its kind in Japan.

"Invite three agencies.
Compare proposals. Decide."

This is how most Japanese advertisers select an agency. The ritualized pitch — a procurement custom that has barely changed in half a century.

But ask yourself: does it actually produce the best partner?

Are you judging by the polish of a presentation deck? Ranking agencies by the theater of their pitch? And three months later, after the contract has begun, have you heard the refrain — "this isn't what we expected," "no one remembers the original proposal," "they're doing the same thing the last agency did"?

On the agency side, the burden of unpaid proposals quietly but steadily drains their capacity. Time that could have been spent on the client's actual business disappears into pitch preparation for a contest they may not win. The effort of the two losing agencies vanishes entirely.

This is a loss for advertisers, for agencies, and for the market as a whole.

The ritualized pitch
serves no one.

Outside Japan, this category
already exists.

ID Comms in the UK. TrinityP3 in Australia. Roth Observatory International in the US. Aprais in the UK. These independent specialist firms partner with the procurement and marketing departments of global advertisers to provide agency selection, pitch management, fee structure design, relationship health assessments, and contract optimization.

Many of the world's leading advertisers engage these third-party advisors to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing investments that run to tens of billions of yen a year. For these organizations, the agency relationship is recognized as a management asset.

In Japan, this category essentially does not exist.

The reasons are several. Japanese procurement departments have refined methods for sourcing raw materials and equipment, but the procurement of intangible creative services poses unique difficulties. Long-standing agency relationships rest on personal trust, and there is a fear that trying to structure them might destroy them. And above all, there are almost no third parties in Japan who truly know the inside of an agency.

The result: most Japanese advertisers make marketing investment decisions worth hundreds of millions to billions of yen each year using limited information and inherited convention, with no access to the methodologies the rest of the world has developed.

Experience from both sides.
Objectivity from the outside.

I am Hiroaki Mori. I spent 33 years working inside the advertising industry — from joining Hakuhodo in 1990 to going independent in 2023. At Hakuhodo I worked across account management, marketing, brand consulting, and global project direction. After a posting at TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles, I served as COO of TBWA\Hakuhodo\China in Guangzhou, working directly with local advertisers and teams. Upon returning to Japan, I spent my final five years and nine months as Representative Director and CEO of McCann Erickson Tokyo, connecting global advertisers with Japanese teams.

Over those 33 years, I came to understand how agencies operate, where they wear themselves out, and what conditions produce their best work — observed from inside three different markets: Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Guangzhou. At the same time, through global networks, I closely watched the relationship-management methodologies that advertisers and agencies in the UK, the US and Australia have developed.

Now, as an independent, I stand on the outside. Neutral. Affiliated with no advertiser and no agency.

Experience from both sides and an objective position — this combination is rare in Japan. It is why Three Plus Six LLC positions itself as a specialist in redesigning client-agency relationships in Japan.

An insider's knowledge.
An outsider's position.

Who this service is for.

CARD is for any advertiser with one or more of these concerns:

You use agencies but lack the information to judge whether you have the right partner.

You have a culture of competitive pitching but question its cost and effectiveness.

You work with multiple agencies but struggle to manage scope and fee coherence across them.

You want to find a new agency but have neither the bandwidth nor the reason to run a full-scale pitch.

You sense latent friction in an agency relationship but are not sure who internally should step in, or how.

We work with companies of every industry and size. From listed companies with annual marketing budgets exceeding one billion yen to startups preparing their first agency engagement — we design the right form of involvement for each stage.

Start with a 90-minute
initial consultation.

CARD begins with a 90-minute initial consultation. This session is complimentary.

We will ask about your current agency relationships: the challenges you perceive, your pitch history, the number and roles of your agencies, and the broad outline of your fee structure. In return, we offer a candid assessment of where your situation stands against international benchmarks and where the most effective starting point might be.

From there, as needed, we design the optimal combination of modules and propose an engagement of three to twelve months.

Everything discussed in the consultation is handled under confidentiality. Even if you choose not to proceed, the insights gained during the session remain yours to keep.

Frequently asked questions

What is CARD?

CARD is a specialized service that helps advertiser procurement and marketing departments redesign their relationships with agencies. We bring a third-party perspective and methodology to every phase of the relationship, from agency selection and scope definition to fee design and relationship review. The aim is a long-term partnership built on trust rather than on ritualized pitches.

Do you work for the advertiser or for the agency?

Our clients are advertisers, but we work as a neutral third party, not affiliated with any advertiser or agency. Where needed, we also listen to the agency side and look for the conditions under which both parties can sustain the relationship. We believe a better relationship is what ultimately improves the advertiser's results.

How do you select an agency without an agency pitch?

Inviting several agencies to present proposals and comparing them goes by several names, including agency pitch, competitive pitch, and agency review. Through CARD, we design a selection process, built on dialogue and short presentations, that fits the nature of the assignment (Pitchless Selection). A full-scale pitch costs the advertiser time and places a heavy burden of unpaid proposals on agencies. Rethinking how selection works reduces that burden for both sides at a structural level.

Can you support us when a pitch is necessary?

We can. When a formal pitch is necessary, we take on requirements definition, shortlisting, evaluation criteria design and the running of the presentation day, and facilitate the process from a neutral position through to your final decision (Pitch Management). Safeguards that minimize the unpaid proposal burden on agencies are built in from the start. When procurement runs the selection as a tender or competitive bidding process, we also support requirements definition and the design of evaluation criteria.

Can you check whether our scope of work and agency fees are appropriate?

We can. An Agency Audit shows whether your current scope of work matches the work actually being done. On that basis, we set out in writing, and agree in advance, what is and is not included in the contract (Scope of Work Architecture), because an ambiguous scope tends to produce additional fees and misunderstandings later. For fees, we assess their appropriateness against industry benchmarks and international practice (Fee Benchmarking). The goal is not to drive prices down but to build a sustainable relationship with fair compensation that matches the scope.

Can we consult you while keeping our current agency?

You can. CARD does not assume that you will change agencies. We can take stock of your existing relationships and diagnose their health (Agency Audit), or gather input from both advertiser and agency to measure the state of the relationship on a regular basis (Relationship Health Check). Where friction has already arisen, we stand between the two parties, untangle the issues, and design a path either to repair the relationship or to bring it to a healthy close (Conflict Mediation).

What kinds of companies is CARD for?

We work across industries and company sizes. CARD is for advertisers who lack the information to judge whether their current agency is the right partner, who question the burden and value of their pitches, or who struggle to align the roles and fees of several agencies. We design the form of engagement to suit each stage.

How does a consultation start, and what does it cost?

It starts with a 90-minute initial consultation, which is complimentary. We ask about your current challenges with agencies, your pitch history, the number and roles of your agencies, and the outline of your fee structure, and then offer a candid view of where your situation stands against international benchmarks and where the most effective starting point lies.

Fees vary with the combination of modules and the length of the engagement, so there is no fixed price list. Based on the initial consultation, we propose the scope, duration, and fees together. You are welcome to start by asking us anything, including how our fees are structured.

How long does an engagement last?

After the initial consultation, we design the right combination of the seven modules as needed and propose an engagement of three to twelve months.

Will what we share in the initial consultation be kept confidential?

Everything discussed in the consultation is handled under a non-disclosure agreement. Even if you choose not to proceed, the insights gained that day remain yours.

Do similar services exist outside Japan?

They do. Independent specialist firms such as ID Comms and Aprais in the UK, TrinityP3 in Australia, and Roth Observatory International in the US partner with the procurement and marketing departments of global advertisers on agency selection and fee structure design. In Japan, this category essentially does not yet exist.

Why can Three Plus Six work from a neutral position?

Founder Hiroaki Mori spent 33 years inside the advertising industry, from joining Hakuhodo in 1990 to going independent in 2023. Through a posting at TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles, his role as COO of TBWA\Hakuhodo\China, and his years as Representative Director and CEO of McCann Erickson Tokyo, he saw in Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Guangzhou how agencies operate, where they wear themselves out, and what kind of relationship produces good work. Throughout, from hands-on work to the leadership level, he worked directly with advertisers. Today he is not affiliated with any advertiser or agency. Experience of both sides, combined with a neutral position, is what allows him to offer CARD as a neutral party.